Wow what and event! When the first 19 boats are Mach 2's and the average age of the first two is 49.5 years old, we are very happy. Two old gunfighters still doing their stuff, who would have thought it...
But did we win or did others loose? That event was always going to be light and the Americans, who tried so hard, just got it plain wrong, turning up a little too heavy and with a rig that even their sailmaker says is only any good in a breeze. That's the problem. If you only ever go sailing when its windy, you only do any good in those conditions. Unfortunately we all have to sail in the light and marginal stuff and whilst we may be able to control that at championship level, at club level you have to be able to sail in anything, and have a rig that goes well in anything. You only get so many Sunday's right?...
Funny though that Simon and Andrew used two different rigs..
Andrew used the KAMSL13 with the soft Mach 2 mast, and at 78kg (!!) he was first to foil and very fast downwind.
Simon used the KA MSL10B with the stiff Mach 2 mast and was very quick upwind with massive height and great speed up and down the range.
So why two rigs? Well weight really... "In training before the event I was as fast as the Americans when the breeze was up" says Simon. "My rig covers the wind range perfectly and I figure I'm just a bit light to hold the MSL13 down in a breeze. I like the simplicity of just one rig"
Anyway back to the event. Whilst it was never windy, it was wavy and each race called for adjustments to the boats settings to optimise performance. We are really beginning to understand wand axle gearing adjustment a bit more, setting the gearing one turn back from the top in the light stuff but moving to half way down the shaft for downwind sleigh rides.
But Moths are all about development so what was new? Dalton ran a double wand system which worked well controlling the ride height evenly from port to starboard (although we are not sure if it lasted the week) and Adam May had a very cool self tacking gps/compass holder.
But if you want to learn more (much more actually) get yourself to Mar Menor in Spain (17th -23rd of May) and the Pro Vela sailing school for the new Moth Fest event. Simon will be coaching for the first three days and whatever your current level you will definately move to the next one!
