Almost won the lottery…

I don't play the local lottery (pick six numbers out of 42 and cross your fingers) but a lot of Western Australians do, and sometimes I hear stories of the guy who "almost won a million bucks", by getting five of the numbers right but missed the very last one.

I got a bit of an insight today into what it must feel like to miss the sixth number, and the million dollars...

Regular readers of the blog will know of my ongoing inability to foil gybe, and after the worlds experience I have decided that this is the most critical thing on my list of stuff to do before I can commit to another major event.

After hanging around the club for a few hours waiting for wind four of us managed to get out for a spin in a light southerly.

Before we hit the water we had made a few changes to my mast rake and bridle which had the bonus effect of increasing the amount of room under the boom for me to squeeze my 6'2" 100kg frame, critical for what came next.

After drifting around watching the 60 and 70 odd kilogram guys popping up on the foils in what can only be described as a sparrows fart puff of breeze, I finally got a puff that could lift both my Prowler and I up onto the foils and off we went.

The first thing I noticed going into my first practice gybe was how much more room I had available to get through the boat, a great side effect of the setup change.

And then it happened, I was across the boat, still on the foils and on the opposite gybe, now just to pop the battens and accelerate off, and that's when I lost the million bucks.

I either sailed into a hole, or I didn't head up enough out of the gybe for the conditions but the boat dropped off the foils and back into low rider mode. Almost but no cigar. This happened once more before the wind dropped out and I had to head back in.

I didn't win the lottery today, but unlike that random game of chance, I now know it's only a matter of time now before I strike it rich!!

With winter setting in here in Perth the focus will move onto setup and repairs when the weather isn't co-operating, but luckily the weather never gets so bad that the boat needs to be packed away, so the learning should continue in preparation for busy 2011/12 season.

(I dreamt about a foiling tack the other night, somehow I think it will remain like that for some time longer!)

Moth Swarm invades Swan River

The largest group of Moths to have sailed on the Swan River at the same time since the 2010 Australian Nationals hit the water on Saturday to participate in some informal racing, boat tuning and good fun sailing.

The fleet consisted of 5 Prowler Zero's, 2 Bladeriders and a Lister and we ran a few gate start windward leeward races over a short course in a gusty 15 to 18 knot easterly and nice flat water.

Breakages culled numbers with a main and boom meeting their maker, but this allowed a chase boat to head out to the remaining boats and get some video and pictures.

As a result I was able to confirm my recent assumption that I haven't got enough vang travel and the leech was too open when sailing upwind. I was able to shorted the strop and get things working a bit better, will confirm this next time I line up with the guys upwind.

Gybing still eludes me and tacking is a comedy of errors, but the straight line stuff (including using the secondary controls ie tiller twist, dial etc) is making sense so hopefully it won't be much longer before it finally comes together!

Most importantly we now have at least 10 active Moths in the Local fleet, and things are looking good for the future of Moth sailing in WA, with interest from a number of regions including some clubs outside of Perth.

Why moths are worth the effort. 

Full vang on before shortening - middle of the leech WAY to open!!