In the words of Simon Payne over a coffee on day 3 of the nationals… “The UK fleet is in really good shape” Nowhere was that more apparent than from where I was seeing the racing unfold.
My objectives were reached and I am really happy with the new boat and even the improvements in my sailing over three days.
But my god, when did the entire fleet shift up two gears without me knowing it?
I always expected that the frontrunners would steam away from the start but how the remaining boats found so much speed all round the track remains a mystery to me.
DAY ONE >
Finding my feet and lacking confidence, I clocked up a 28 and a 22 in light shifty winds. I was pleased overall but felt the boat wasn’t quite set up right. It was fairly nose up and I adjusted that by tucking the rudder in and giving more lift at the rear.
The conditions were definately geared towards the “less portly gentlefolk” but it didn’t seem too bad in terms of them having an advantage.
My biggest problem was my inability to pull off a foiling gybe without crashing. It wasn’t like I was sailing any worse than before, it was just that everyone else was sailing so much better. People I’ve never heard of in the moth class were effortlessly pulling off every gybe and disappearing off in to the distance while I righted from capsize after capsize. Needless to say, I got lapped by the frontrunners at some point or another, having said that, I also scored what was to be my best result of the event with a 22.
DAY TWO >
This was another day of shifts and holes and light winds with the promise occasionally of the wind filling in. I clocked up my worst results with 32, 28, 28 clearly showing that everyone else had dialed in to the conditions and race environment and I hadn’t although I was pleased to say that sporting a new race watch, I remembered how to use it and get to the start line in time and for the first time since sailing lasers as a youth, I was over the line in the second race which was strangely satisfying! In the end, I pulled what was to be my worst results of the regatta with a 32, 28 and 28 I also forgot to wear my gloves which meant “we had a bleeder” with some juicy blisters opening up… Never again!
DAY THREE >
A much windier affair with winds getting up towards the 18 knot mark. Much more to my advantage being 80 kilos… or so I thought! Those skinny little devils just rose to the challenge and continued to steam around the track rendering my weighty advantage null and void! Watching people like Doug Pybus (10 kilos lighter than me) holding it down upwind and even pulling away was disheartening and blew away my theory about the advantages of having a pot belly. Mind you, Doug was sporting a new “Rambo” impact vest so maybe I’ll get one of them!
This was to be the bast day of sailing for me as I felt more comfortable in those conditions which also had some weird “worthing style” swell and chop running which meant a whole load of crashes from those nearest to me round the track.
The highlight for me was the last two laps of the third race where I was dueling with Andrew Friend all the way round the course. The runs were wild and furious and each of us stacked it a couple of times but we would always end up neck and neck again by the windward mark and in the end I just pipped him at the line.
Ironically, my prodder attachment had given way on the way to the first race and somehow I still went ok round the track! The only worry was the occasional loud “clunk” as the rig flipped during a gybe and the prodder would swap sides of the mast!
DAY 4 >
There was absolutely no wind to start with and the race officer started sending everyone out to the course in 6 knots of wind. Un inspired by the possibility of a drift off coupled with a really poor forecast and by now really painful hands, I opted to sit out the final day. In hindsight I am a little annoyed with myself as the wind did fill and they managed another two races. If I had completed them and even come last I would have secured a 27th place overall but as it was I ended up 30th out of 42.
SUMMARY >
My first proper regatta since I was 18 and the second one in a foiling moth and overall I am happy. I do still have several mountains to climb in order to get to where I want to be (I appear to not be as gifted as some of the bright sparks in the fleet who have learnt to foil gybe and go fast in a ridiculously short space of time) but I have learned loads and gained the all important valuable experience and have hopefully set myself a nice solid foundation on which to build.
Once again Ninjario was rock solid and held up nicely in the varying wind conditions, huge courses and back to back racing over three days. I am getting a much better feeling for how she works and by the end was foil gybing consistently without realising it.
I’ve got some work to do on tuning the rig before the europeans but apart from that, it’s just time on the water between now and then. (Oh and a gantry rebuild for Jonnie!)
