The Tiger is dismantled at home and some upgrades are happenning.
The wand and pushrods are being replaced with lighter stuff and the conduit through the foredeck is being replaced with a carbon tube which better aligns with everything for significantly less friction.
The flex skin flap hinge has to go, as it has become very stiff as the resin has aged, a shame but it was worth the experiment. Might try it again someday with more research into suitable resins.
Planning a better fit for the fin case cassette which makes up the space between the old 200mm wide centreboard shape and the 120mm wide foil strut size. Similar treatment needed on the rudder box and gudgeon fittings.
After sailing Dave's boat briefly its easy to see how importat all this is and how slack I have been with tidying up the mechanism and set up generally.
Once all that is finished a new better set of foils is on the menu.
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Phil's Form Guide
This close to the Moth Worlds in UK it seems that it is the duty of all moth Bloggers to post a form guide and pick some winners. Scott has posted his at: http://scott.projectsomewhere.com/2008/05/14/the-form-2/
and being modest has not put himself on top. But he has sailed against most of the protagonists and has a better idea of what is needed than most.
For what it is worth here is my take:
The BIG factors are boats, weather and weight.
1. BOATS I think it will be unlikely that a boat other than a Bladerider or Prowler will win. I have not seen any evidence of other fast boats attending, they are either too new or still under developed. I may be wrong, it is posible to build a boat good enough as Dave Lister and John Gilmore have shown here at home, but Dave is not going to be at Weymouth.
The fast Prowler Zeros are with Scott, Simon Payne, John Ilett and Ben Croker. The obvious good Bladeriders are with AMAC, Bora, Matt Belcher, Graham Vials with John Harris, Andrew Brown and probably a few others close behind. This leaves people like Adam May out because no matter how good he is I do not think his boat is complete yet and that leaves him in a similar position as last year, unprepared.
2. The WEATHER is expected to be lightish, 8 to 12 kts mostly I understand. This will count out anyone over 75kg, Big Ben is obviously going for the holiday. If the wind is at all patchy expect the very small people to romp it in. At easter in less than 10 kts it was obvious that the fly weights were the first to fly and in minutes they are a leg ahead of anyone who does not fly. And the lightest skippers stay in the puffs longer and just get further in front.
3. So who is the lightest WEIGHT? Of the top Australians Matt has it, Scott is smallish but after a couple of seasons on 18s has bulked up. John Harris says he is heavier than he looks. Alan Goddard is light enough but he does not yet have the boat speed for a top placing. Of the foreigners It looks like Graham Vials is small enough and Simon and Adam are pretty small too, if Simon has not spent too much time on that famous rowing machine bulking up. I have never seen Bora or Brownie but I get the impression they may be a touch bigger.
So when you take out the people who are un prepared: Adam, May and John Ilett are still finishing boats, much too big like Ben, maybe a touch big like Brownie, (John and Bora?), then those that are left are:
John Harris: Going well in good winds but despite having all the right components seemed to go poorly in the light at easter.
Bora: Only sailed one moth regatta, and did well but from reports was not quite laid back enough for the big one, looks good on video tacking reach to reach but thats not really racing. But Scott picked his as #1?
AMAC: Has had a year getting over the intense 3 years of developing, designing and producing Bladerider. He has been sailing a bit but I doubt he will have the inovation this time without the full time involvement. He will be relieved from being chief BR repairman I hope which might improve the preparation of his own boat. He is a self driven sailor who deserved a WC win after plenty of minor places over decades.
Simon: Full time program, right boat, right weight, local practice, prevous champ, but I just feel he might get beeten at the post by the fly weights.
Scott: Similar to Simon without the full time moth program, but a lot of other sailing to fill the gaps. He is younger than Simon and maybe a touch lighter so I give him an edge.
Vials: Seems to be the find in UK this year. Pusuit race winds do not count, but he did very well last year at Garda on a boat which was self destructing, and I got the idea somewhere that he is small and good in the light.
Matt: Got everything right and has proven at the Aust nationals and at NSW champs over easter that he is very fast in the light. He is the first to foil and goes a long way with each gust. He was world #1 ranked 470 skipper last year and that means he can handle a big regatta pretty well (even if he lost his way round the pq moth course twice at easter, which probably cost him the regatta.) And he is Australian!
What else might affect things?
Sails? I suspect that the light winds might show up some equal or even better than the longstanding #1 KAs. I observed at easter that the front of the fleet included much more variety than has been normal. Scott has a Truflo while the rest seem to be all KA, maybe that will have an impact.
So my pick, Matt, and the rest in back order as above.
and being modest has not put himself on top. But he has sailed against most of the protagonists and has a better idea of what is needed than most.
For what it is worth here is my take:
The BIG factors are boats, weather and weight.
1. BOATS I think it will be unlikely that a boat other than a Bladerider or Prowler will win. I have not seen any evidence of other fast boats attending, they are either too new or still under developed. I may be wrong, it is posible to build a boat good enough as Dave Lister and John Gilmore have shown here at home, but Dave is not going to be at Weymouth.
The fast Prowler Zeros are with Scott, Simon Payne, John Ilett and Ben Croker. The obvious good Bladeriders are with AMAC, Bora, Matt Belcher, Graham Vials with John Harris, Andrew Brown and probably a few others close behind. This leaves people like Adam May out because no matter how good he is I do not think his boat is complete yet and that leaves him in a similar position as last year, unprepared.
2. The WEATHER is expected to be lightish, 8 to 12 kts mostly I understand. This will count out anyone over 75kg, Big Ben is obviously going for the holiday. If the wind is at all patchy expect the very small people to romp it in. At easter in less than 10 kts it was obvious that the fly weights were the first to fly and in minutes they are a leg ahead of anyone who does not fly. And the lightest skippers stay in the puffs longer and just get further in front.
3. So who is the lightest WEIGHT? Of the top Australians Matt has it, Scott is smallish but after a couple of seasons on 18s has bulked up. John Harris says he is heavier than he looks. Alan Goddard is light enough but he does not yet have the boat speed for a top placing. Of the foreigners It looks like Graham Vials is small enough and Simon and Adam are pretty small too, if Simon has not spent too much time on that famous rowing machine bulking up. I have never seen Bora or Brownie but I get the impression they may be a touch bigger.
So when you take out the people who are un prepared: Adam, May and John Ilett are still finishing boats, much too big like Ben, maybe a touch big like Brownie, (John and Bora?), then those that are left are:
John Harris: Going well in good winds but despite having all the right components seemed to go poorly in the light at easter.
Bora: Only sailed one moth regatta, and did well but from reports was not quite laid back enough for the big one, looks good on video tacking reach to reach but thats not really racing. But Scott picked his as #1?
AMAC: Has had a year getting over the intense 3 years of developing, designing and producing Bladerider. He has been sailing a bit but I doubt he will have the inovation this time without the full time involvement. He will be relieved from being chief BR repairman I hope which might improve the preparation of his own boat. He is a self driven sailor who deserved a WC win after plenty of minor places over decades.
Simon: Full time program, right boat, right weight, local practice, prevous champ, but I just feel he might get beeten at the post by the fly weights.
Scott: Similar to Simon without the full time moth program, but a lot of other sailing to fill the gaps. He is younger than Simon and maybe a touch lighter so I give him an edge.
Vials: Seems to be the find in UK this year. Pusuit race winds do not count, but he did very well last year at Garda on a boat which was self destructing, and I got the idea somewhere that he is small and good in the light.
Matt: Got everything right and has proven at the Aust nationals and at NSW champs over easter that he is very fast in the light. He is the first to foil and goes a long way with each gust. He was world #1 ranked 470 skipper last year and that means he can handle a big regatta pretty well (even if he lost his way round the pq moth course twice at easter, which probably cost him the regatta.) And he is Australian!
What else might affect things?
Sails? I suspect that the light winds might show up some equal or even better than the longstanding #1 KAs. I observed at easter that the front of the fleet included much more variety than has been normal. Scott has a Truflo while the rest seem to be all KA, maybe that will have an impact.
So my pick, Matt, and the rest in back order as above.
Addition to the family
Well no sailing for a while but there has been an increase in the Moth population at the Stevo household.
Andrew has bought Roger Quinn's Mk2 Prowler, AUS 9332 which has never worn foils but comes in pretty good condition with everythhing else to normal Fastacraft standard and minimum weight. His winter project now is to build some foils and put together the linkages. It will be yet another boat for the expanding foiler fleet at St George SC next season.
Andrew sold AUS9323 Shenanigans three years ago and has spent that time skippering Brad Greenrod's 12ft skiff, Datacall.
Andrew has bought Roger Quinn's Mk2 Prowler, AUS 9332 which has never worn foils but comes in pretty good condition with everythhing else to normal Fastacraft standard and minimum weight. His winter project now is to build some foils and put together the linkages. It will be yet another boat for the expanding foiler fleet at St George SC next season.
Andrew sold AUS9323 Shenanigans three years ago and has spent that time skippering Brad Greenrod's 12ft skiff, Datacall.
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
No sailing last weekend because I did some damage with a chisel in the workshop. On the mend now. Story of last St George race for the season is on Grant's Blog: http://grantweymouth.blogspot.com/
Monday, April 21, 2008
Some wind, but less water.
Low tide and big winds at St George for Saturday.
The wind was good enough to make for challenging sailing and some fast rides. Unfortunately it also broke the primary strop for the vang leaving a longer secondary one which meant I could not pull on the vang fully for most of the race. This meant my upwind speed was off pace but did not affect the rides downwind.
I had two fast swims going over the falls when reacting slowly to over height at speed, but the biggest crash was from running aground at speed when sailing quite high. The low tide fooled me. That part of the river is normally deepe enough even for low riding.
At least it proved my new T joint is up to standard, no dammage, but the mounting pin for the CB was so bent it took quite an effort to extract it later when coming ashore.
A couple of reaching legs were at minimal control and scarey speeds, especially in close company with Grant and some of teh skiff fleet on reciprical course gojng upwind. Dave lapped us as usual but I had the normal close race with Grant which considering the vang position is encouraging. Finished 3rd but beat the other four young guys who DNFed.
Last race of the season next Friday. Might have to resurect the canoe for winter as the water is gettng chilly.
The wind was good enough to make for challenging sailing and some fast rides. Unfortunately it also broke the primary strop for the vang leaving a longer secondary one which meant I could not pull on the vang fully for most of the race. This meant my upwind speed was off pace but did not affect the rides downwind.
I had two fast swims going over the falls when reacting slowly to over height at speed, but the biggest crash was from running aground at speed when sailing quite high. The low tide fooled me. That part of the river is normally deepe enough even for low riding.
At least it proved my new T joint is up to standard, no dammage, but the mounting pin for the CB was so bent it took quite an effort to extract it later when coming ashore.
A couple of reaching legs were at minimal control and scarey speeds, especially in close company with Grant and some of teh skiff fleet on reciprical course gojng upwind. Dave lapped us as usual but I had the normal close race with Grant which considering the vang position is encouraging. Finished 3rd but beat the other four young guys who DNFed.
Last race of the season next Friday. Might have to resurect the canoe for winter as the water is gettng chilly.
Monday, April 14, 2008
St George sat 12th April
Another light day. Although I made more adjustments to the wand linkage, I did not get foiling at all. It tried a couple of times but mosly I disconnected the wand and sailed it in low drag mode.
After a tangle with some bigger boats in the mass start I got away from the other moths and close to the leading skiffs until we turned at the moth windward mark. From there on it got lonely, I had a big lead on Grant until he started to just foil. He gained a bit then I engaged the wand and did one work, with hopes of flying, but in reality sailing low with high drag from the wand and down flap. He gained enough to cross once. Then on the downwing leg I reverted to low drag and sailed square, while Grant reached off trying to fly. I gained heaps and in the end he gave up and joined the others and went home. I did too after a couple of legs as there was no point drifting around by myself.
OK I know my boat goes well in the light but it would be nice to have someone to race against, they might even learn how to do it as well if they spent some time practicing. It is disturbing to me that the new generation of moth sailors do not want to go sailing unless they can foil. Two or three did not bother to rig and several others did not even show at the club.
They will miss a lot of sailing at the ends of the season, and as seen at easter will have poor results at significant regattas if the weather turns light.
It would be bad for the class to only sail when there was enough wind to foil. I like the moth to be an all weather boat like it always was.
Maybe the designers need to look at more design allowance for light winds and not solely for foiling. Mostly we need to maintain an attitude that we race as soon as the committee can set a course, just like all other dinghy classes.
After a tangle with some bigger boats in the mass start I got away from the other moths and close to the leading skiffs until we turned at the moth windward mark. From there on it got lonely, I had a big lead on Grant until he started to just foil. He gained a bit then I engaged the wand and did one work, with hopes of flying, but in reality sailing low with high drag from the wand and down flap. He gained enough to cross once. Then on the downwing leg I reverted to low drag and sailed square, while Grant reached off trying to fly. I gained heaps and in the end he gave up and joined the others and went home. I did too after a couple of legs as there was no point drifting around by myself.
OK I know my boat goes well in the light but it would be nice to have someone to race against, they might even learn how to do it as well if they spent some time practicing. It is disturbing to me that the new generation of moth sailors do not want to go sailing unless they can foil. Two or three did not bother to rig and several others did not even show at the club.
They will miss a lot of sailing at the ends of the season, and as seen at easter will have poor results at significant regattas if the weather turns light.
I commented that the 5kts winds used to be really competitive in prefoiling days, there were a lot of fast boats nd it was close at the top.
It would be bad for the class to only sail when there was enough wind to foil. I like the moth to be an all weather boat like it always was.
Maybe the designers need to look at more design allowance for light winds and not solely for foiling. Mostly we need to maintain an attitude that we race as soon as the committee can set a course, just like all other dinghy classes.
Monday, April 7, 2008
Back to club racing and back to reality. A moderate 10 kt wind meant I was again well behind the fast foiling boats. I managed to stay in touch up wind but as soon as we go downhill I am so slow. I made some adjustments to the flap to get more down movement but did not have the wand mechanism working well enough.
But afterwards Dave sided up and offered me a ride on his boat. I did not hesitate, I had never had a go on one of the well sorted fast boats and wanted to find just how different they are.
It would be an understatement to say I was more impressed with his boat than he was with mine. I found his ride height so dominant with no body movements needed and when going quite a bumpy ride as the wand very powerfully controls the flap. By contrast Dave wondered if my wand was even connected!
But the speed was daunting, reaching it accellerated easilly and brings the apparent way forward so hiking and sheeting just make stil faster, requireing a strong bear away to keep the sail full. Fast and Low! I certainly have a lot of work to do. At least the rigs look similar.
Just a brief sail ina fading breaze, but well worth it. Adjustments next week.
But afterwards Dave sided up and offered me a ride on his boat. I did not hesitate, I had never had a go on one of the well sorted fast boats and wanted to find just how different they are.
It would be an understatement to say I was more impressed with his boat than he was with mine. I found his ride height so dominant with no body movements needed and when going quite a bumpy ride as the wand very powerfully controls the flap. By contrast Dave wondered if my wand was even connected!
But the speed was daunting, reaching it accellerated easilly and brings the apparent way forward so hiking and sheeting just make stil faster, requireing a strong bear away to keep the sail full. Fast and Low! I certainly have a lot of work to do. At least the rigs look similar.
Just a brief sail ina fading breaze, but well worth it. Adjustments next week.
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