A good start for the Brits in Qingdao. 1st in the Yngling and 49er classes, with Ben Ainsle in 2nd at the moment in the Finn. An impressive start so far......
Loving the live BBC footage on their website each morning. Shame there isn't much wind.
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Saturday, August 09, 2008
Friday, August 08, 2008
Cool Helicopters
Whilst packing up the 2.4's down at the academy today a guy drove up and pulled out a little remote controlled helicopter from his van. This was no ordinary helicopter though, it had a remote controlled high res stills camera slung underneath it. The image from which could be viewed from the ground via funky glasses!
Very cool.
Check out some of the images he's taken on: http://www.aerialpics.org/
Olympic News
With the official opening ceremony today, I'll be glued to the TV until we fly out to overlap with the end of the event. It will be cool to be out in China for the end of the Games and to catch up with everybody out there. The RYA run the Paralympic program as three extra Olympic classes, and so it is funny to now have the Olympics upon us, and we were still out on the water training in Weymouth.
Something I'll watch with interest is if Mitch Booth, and the USA team of Lovell and Ogletree use their code zero style spinnakers.... Most of the fleet have tested their own version, most dismissed the idea, but these guys stuck with it. It has the potential to be very quick upwind. When we first went to asymetrics on the Tornado we all played with it in the light stuff, and it was quick but low. A smaller specific sail could be an interesting weapon upwind, but the penalty downwind?.... It will be interesting to see.
Word from China seems to have pretty quiet that the practice races for the Finn and Yngling fleets were abandoned yesterday due to no wind! A light start to the regatta is forecast.
Something I'll watch with interest is if Mitch Booth, and the USA team of Lovell and Ogletree use their code zero style spinnakers.... Most of the fleet have tested their own version, most dismissed the idea, but these guys stuck with it. It has the potential to be very quick upwind. When we first went to asymetrics on the Tornado we all played with it in the light stuff, and it was quick but low. A smaller specific sail could be an interesting weapon upwind, but the penalty downwind?.... It will be interesting to see.
Word from China seems to have pretty quiet that the practice races for the Finn and Yngling fleets were abandoned yesterday due to no wind! A light start to the regatta is forecast.
Velocitek Speed Challenge
I've just seen the results of the Velocitek Speed Challenge during the Worlds. It is impressive for the class to see such a large number of high speeds. In the early foiling days many seemed to doubt the speed of the Moth. I don't think many question it now!
Name Sail Number 10 sec average speed Boat Type
1 Arnaud Psarofaghis SUI 3252 26.1kts Bladerider
2 James Owen-Smith AUS 9354 25.9kts Bladerider
3 Bora Gulari USA 3281 25.5kts Bladerider
4 Martin Gravare SWE 3279 25.4kts Bladerider
5 John Harris AUS 3295 25.3kts Bladerider
6 Andrew Brown NZL 3230 25.1kts Bladerider
7 Andrew McDougall AUS 3128 25.1kts Bladerider
8 Alex Knight GBR 3239 24kts Bladerider
9 Sten-Mark Bachman EST 3291 24.7kts Bladerider
10 Ben Crocker AUS 3262 24.6kts Prowler Zero
11 Simon Payne GBR 3259 24.4kts Prowler Zero
12 George Peet USA 3251 24.3kts Bladerider
13 Andrew Friend GBR 4102 24.2kts Bladerider
14 Ziegert Jean-Pierre SUI 8 24.2kts Prowler Mk4
15 Samantha England AUS 3297 23kts Bladerider
16 Glenn Raphael UAE 3300 23kts Bladerider
17 Peter Becker USA 3138 23.9kts Bladerider
18 Nigel Oswold USA 3284 23.8kts Bladerider
19 Lochlin Byrne AUS 3360 23.6kts Bladerider FX
20 Mathew Belcher AUS 3217 23.6kts Bladerider
21 Graham Vials GBR 3158 23.4kts Bladerider
22 Scott babbage AUS 3263 22kts Prowler Zero
23 Gary Ireson GBR 3261 22kts Prowler Zero
24 Mike Lennon GBR 3243 22.2kts Bladerider
25 Tim Boon GBR 4076 22.1kts Prowler
26 Ian Forsdike GBR 4095 21kts
27 Sebastien Josse FRA 3298 21.5kts Bladerider
28 Eelco Boers NED 3215 21.4kts
29 Tom Whicher GBR 3192 20.5kts Axiom v4
30 Douglas Imrie GBR 3335 20.3kts
31 James Roche GBR 4103 19.8kts
32 Douglas Culnane AUT 3202 18.3kts Flashheart
33 Paul Hignett GBR 3136 15.4kts
34 Nils Warnken GER 1032 11.1kts
35 Jason Belben GBR 4090 9.4kts Prowler (I'm guessing there were a few rouge units - Jason certainly went quicker than this!)
36 C Weber NED 3235 5.2kts
I took out the 'Weapon' with Katherine's 6.55sqm mini rig and got 23.7knots out of it, but didn't have an official Velocitek unit on.
Also check out Rohan/Bladerider's video of the action:
Name Sail Number 10 sec average speed Boat Type
1 Arnaud Psarofaghis SUI 3252 26.1kts Bladerider
2 James Owen-Smith AUS 9354 25.9kts Bladerider
3 Bora Gulari USA 3281 25.5kts Bladerider
4 Martin Gravare SWE 3279 25.4kts Bladerider
5 John Harris AUS 3295 25.3kts Bladerider
6 Andrew Brown NZL 3230 25.1kts Bladerider
7 Andrew McDougall AUS 3128 25.1kts Bladerider
8 Alex Knight GBR 3239 24kts Bladerider
9 Sten-Mark Bachman EST 3291 24.7kts Bladerider
10 Ben Crocker AUS 3262 24.6kts Prowler Zero
11 Simon Payne GBR 3259 24.4kts Prowler Zero
12 George Peet USA 3251 24.3kts Bladerider
13 Andrew Friend GBR 4102 24.2kts Bladerider
14 Ziegert Jean-Pierre SUI 8 24.2kts Prowler Mk4
15 Samantha England AUS 3297 23kts Bladerider
16 Glenn Raphael UAE 3300 23kts Bladerider
17 Peter Becker USA 3138 23.9kts Bladerider
18 Nigel Oswold USA 3284 23.8kts Bladerider
19 Lochlin Byrne AUS 3360 23.6kts Bladerider FX
20 Mathew Belcher AUS 3217 23.6kts Bladerider
21 Graham Vials GBR 3158 23.4kts Bladerider
22 Scott babbage AUS 3263 22kts Prowler Zero
23 Gary Ireson GBR 3261 22kts Prowler Zero
24 Mike Lennon GBR 3243 22.2kts Bladerider
25 Tim Boon GBR 4076 22.1kts Prowler
26 Ian Forsdike GBR 4095 21kts
27 Sebastien Josse FRA 3298 21.5kts Bladerider
28 Eelco Boers NED 3215 21.4kts
29 Tom Whicher GBR 3192 20.5kts Axiom v4
30 Douglas Imrie GBR 3335 20.3kts
31 James Roche GBR 4103 19.8kts
32 Douglas Culnane AUT 3202 18.3kts Flashheart
33 Paul Hignett GBR 3136 15.4kts
34 Nils Warnken GER 1032 11.1kts
35 Jason Belben GBR 4090 9.4kts Prowler (I'm guessing there were a few rouge units - Jason certainly went quicker than this!)
36 C Weber NED 3235 5.2kts
I took out the 'Weapon' with Katherine's 6.55sqm mini rig and got 23.7knots out of it, but didn't have an official Velocitek unit on.
Also check out Rohan/Bladerider's video of the action:
Monday, August 04, 2008
Shipping Back from Weymouth
A check round the back of the academy today saw no moth sized boxes sitting there, so either all the shippers have finally picked up the boats or the local fleet has just got a bit bigger.
If you are still waiting for your boat post Worlds, check in with your shipper, they seem to have been pretty clueless about what they were trying to pick up. One picked up a box, just because it had a sticker 'like the one he delivered' and another picked up a Skud 18 mast instead of a Moth. Luckily it got discovered in Heathrow, and some poor Mothie didn't get a nasty surprise.
If you are still waiting for your boat post Worlds, check in with your shipper, they seem to have been pretty clueless about what they were trying to pick up. One picked up a box, just because it had a sticker 'like the one he delivered' and another picked up a Skud 18 mast instead of a Moth. Luckily it got discovered in Heathrow, and some poor Mothie didn't get a nasty surprise.
Saturday, August 02, 2008
Shed News
With news of a World Championships amongst Moth bloggers, I’ve been having a bit of an update, and catching up on my blog news. Things have been busy here, but I won’t bore you with any more coaching news as that is all I’ll have to talk about next month. Today’s exciting Moth related news is the new shed alongside my workshop. This now means I can put all those useless things like lawnmower, garden tools and the like in my shed, leaving the workshop free for interesting Moth related projects! A slight wood splitting incident when adding the final touches resulted in a last minute Moth related mod to cap the roof joints!
[PS – Mum and Dad I have now sealed all the windows!]
So what is scheduled for the workshop next?
· A full tidy up, with everything getting its own home, and putting up my tool rack on the wall.
· Katherine’s lowrider is being pimped into a modern foiler. We’ll use the hull and a bit of the deck from the original boat, and chop away any unnecessary structure. We are looking good for a weight reduction of around 10kg at the moment, but we’ll post full details here as we go through each stage. It won’t be a quick transformation, but I’d like to post enough info so others could do the same as well if they’d like.
· The ‘Weapon’ will be used to test a few of my more silly ideas.
· ‘Envy’ will be continued to be refined. Playing with foil set-up and tuning. New boom and spreader unit to be added shortly.
[PS – Mum and Dad I have now sealed all the windows!]
So what is scheduled for the workshop next?
· A full tidy up, with everything getting its own home, and putting up my tool rack on the wall.
· Katherine’s lowrider is being pimped into a modern foiler. We’ll use the hull and a bit of the deck from the original boat, and chop away any unnecessary structure. We are looking good for a weight reduction of around 10kg at the moment, but we’ll post full details here as we go through each stage. It won’t be a quick transformation, but I’d like to post enough info so others could do the same as well if they’d like.
· The ‘Weapon’ will be used to test a few of my more silly ideas.
· ‘Envy’ will be continued to be refined. Playing with foil set-up and tuning. New boom and spreader unit to be added shortly.
Foiling 18’s and new creations
During the Worlds I spoke to Toby Heppell about an article that he’d written on www.thedailysail.com about Thomas Jundt’s foiling skiff that he’d taken down to the Europeans. The fleet didn’t seem to friendly to him, and I asked Toby for Thomas’ email address so I could get in touch and let him know that any Moth sailor I’ve spoken to thinks what he’s doing is great.
I got a nice reply back a few days later:
“Adam, Thanks’ a lot for your message. I admire you the moths, it is fantastic what you do. Of course all the credit for my projects goes to you the moth fleet, I am just copying you - so I am happy to here that you like what we do.”
Here is his latest creation ‘Mirabaud LX’.
Check out the foiling gybe just under 1min in.
I got a nice reply back a few days later:
“Adam, Thanks’ a lot for your message. I admire you the moths, it is fantastic what you do. Of course all the credit for my projects goes to you the moth fleet, I am just copying you - so I am happy to here that you like what we do.”
Here is his latest creation ‘Mirabaud LX’.
Check out the foiling gybe just under 1min in.
Girls in Moths
Team GBR’s Beijing Laser Radial rep Penny Clarke sent her husband Russ down to the Worlds with the strict instructions of getting her a Moth so that she had one waiting for her on the driveway for when she got back from China! I know Russ and Penny from the Olympic circuit and from coaching them in F18’s. I introduced Russ to Mark Robinson, and the deal was done. So we have a growing female contingent in the UK Moth fleet. Penny now joins, Katherine, Clare, Helen, and Emma. Penny will be on the water at Stokes Bay on return from Qingdao.
Dinghy Sailing Stunts Article
The August issue of Dinghy Sailing magazine includes a feature on the ‘Coolest stunts ever’ and it has a large moth presence. There is the pic of me jumping off the boat in Garda, James Roche’s crash recovery at Grafham, and a nose plant by Mike Cooke.
Friday, August 01, 2008
Deed of Gift AC
Another U turn in the 33rd AC fiasco…. A recent court ruling suggests a change back to the original challenging club, and possibly back to 90ft monohulls. Well until the next appeal anyway…
I was actually quite looking forward to a Deed of Gift America’s Cup. The prospect of 100ft long multihulls battling it out for the cup was an exciting prospect, and what about the development potential when two huge AC teams throw themselves into multihull sailing? Multihulls out of the Olympics and into the AC seemed only fair.
I’d just started sailing when the 1988 Deed of Gift Cup was on, but I remember well the TV footage of that event with the huge Kiwi monohull, and Conner’s wingsailed catamaran. They were cool boats. And what about Blue Arrow, the foil stabilised monohull that Peter de Savary tried to join the competition with? That was a ‘craft’ well ahead of its time. And they built it in 11 weeks!
This boat was unveiled to the press almost exactly 20 years ago. What could a Deed of Gift AC have produced this time around?
(Mothie John Claridge was onboard by the way!)
I was actually quite looking forward to a Deed of Gift America’s Cup. The prospect of 100ft long multihulls battling it out for the cup was an exciting prospect, and what about the development potential when two huge AC teams throw themselves into multihull sailing? Multihulls out of the Olympics and into the AC seemed only fair.
I’d just started sailing when the 1988 Deed of Gift Cup was on, but I remember well the TV footage of that event with the huge Kiwi monohull, and Conner’s wingsailed catamaran. They were cool boats. And what about Blue Arrow, the foil stabilised monohull that Peter de Savary tried to join the competition with? That was a ‘craft’ well ahead of its time. And they built it in 11 weeks!
This boat was unveiled to the press almost exactly 20 years ago. What could a Deed of Gift AC have produced this time around?
(Mothie John Claridge was onboard by the way!)
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Sailing on the BBC
RYA Press Release: Sailors go for gold on the BBC
There is no need to miss a second of Britain’s sailors’ quest for gold in Qingdao next month as the BBC brings you round-the-clock coverage from all the action on the water at Beijing 2008.
With full race coverage set to start at 6am – the time of the first scheduled warning signal in China – every day on the BBC Interactive ‘Red Button’ service and at least 30 minutes of sailing highlights planned on BBC One every morning, you can watch all the excitement unfold as it happens in Qingdao.
Viewers will be guided through the thrills and spills of the Olympic sailing competition by experienced sailing commentator Richard Simmonds joined by double Olympic gold medallist Shirley Robertson, who will provide expert analysis and insight into the sport.
All the interactive coverage will be repeated each evening while an hour-long daily Olympic highlights show will also be tracking Britain’s progress around the sports on BBC One at 7pm.
Meanwhile, on Monday 19 August – the day of the scheduled 470 medal races – BBC 5Live will be broadcasting their Breakfast Programme live from the Olympic Sailing Venue while BBC Radio’s Juliette Ferrington will be based in Qingdao for the duration of the Games.
Around 300 hours of Olympic drama will be broadcast on BBC One and Two over the course of the Games while BBC Interactive air time will be upped from 1,000 hours of coverage at the Athens Olympics to 2,450 hours in China.
The Olympic Sailing Regatta takes place from Saturday 9 August – Thursday 21 August.
All broadcast and event schedules are subject to change.
There is no need to miss a second of Britain’s sailors’ quest for gold in Qingdao next month as the BBC brings you round-the-clock coverage from all the action on the water at Beijing 2008.
With full race coverage set to start at 6am – the time of the first scheduled warning signal in China – every day on the BBC Interactive ‘Red Button’ service and at least 30 minutes of sailing highlights planned on BBC One every morning, you can watch all the excitement unfold as it happens in Qingdao.
Viewers will be guided through the thrills and spills of the Olympic sailing competition by experienced sailing commentator Richard Simmonds joined by double Olympic gold medallist Shirley Robertson, who will provide expert analysis and insight into the sport.
All the interactive coverage will be repeated each evening while an hour-long daily Olympic highlights show will also be tracking Britain’s progress around the sports on BBC One at 7pm.
Meanwhile, on Monday 19 August – the day of the scheduled 470 medal races – BBC 5Live will be broadcasting their Breakfast Programme live from the Olympic Sailing Venue while BBC Radio’s Juliette Ferrington will be based in Qingdao for the duration of the Games.
Around 300 hours of Olympic drama will be broadcast on BBC One and Two over the course of the Games while BBC Interactive air time will be upped from 1,000 hours of coverage at the Athens Olympics to 2,450 hours in China.
The Olympic Sailing Regatta takes place from Saturday 9 August – Thursday 21 August.
All broadcast and event schedules are subject to change.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
'Carbon Footprint'
Coming soon: The Carbon Footprint Project.
Can’t afford a new foiler? Got an old lowrider and don’t know what to do with it? Worried about your carbon footprint? Why not cut an old lowrider in half?
Katherine has been on the fast track foiling programme. In Feb this year she’d sailed a Topper a few times, crewed a J24 in the Poole club series, and was a bit of a pro Windsurfer, so she bought a Moth! A month or so in she took it to Bristol and did one race of the two race open there. Then she took it to the Nationals, and finished 22nd out of 34. With my new boat nearing completion the deal was that she could use ‘The Weapon’ in the Worlds if my new one was done. It was a punchy call though with only a few days practice before the Worlds! Unfortunately with the windy conditions all week Katherine was one of many who didn’t manage to finish a race. Although she did get a mini rig built on the morning of the first day in an effort to get racing! Undaunted though she’s a foiler convert now, and so the old lowrider had to be modified….
After a particularly good sail one weekend (she giggled lots saying that bearing away made her tummy go funny!), the jigsaw came out that evening, and work began on the ‘Carbon Footprint’ project.
Full details in coming posts.
Can’t afford a new foiler? Got an old lowrider and don’t know what to do with it? Worried about your carbon footprint? Why not cut an old lowrider in half?
Katherine has been on the fast track foiling programme. In Feb this year she’d sailed a Topper a few times, crewed a J24 in the Poole club series, and was a bit of a pro Windsurfer, so she bought a Moth! A month or so in she took it to Bristol and did one race of the two race open there. Then she took it to the Nationals, and finished 22nd out of 34. With my new boat nearing completion the deal was that she could use ‘The Weapon’ in the Worlds if my new one was done. It was a punchy call though with only a few days practice before the Worlds! Unfortunately with the windy conditions all week Katherine was one of many who didn’t manage to finish a race. Although she did get a mini rig built on the morning of the first day in an effort to get racing! Undaunted though she’s a foiler convert now, and so the old lowrider had to be modified….
After a particularly good sail one weekend (she giggled lots saying that bearing away made her tummy go funny!), the jigsaw came out that evening, and work began on the ‘Carbon Footprint’ project.
Full details in coming posts.
Sunday, July 27, 2008
C Class Cat in Weymouth
Team Invictus in Weymouth. Paul Larson, Helena Darvelid, and the guys from Airbus rigged up their C Class cat in Weymouth at the weekend, and took it for a sail with its new ‘Cogito’ style wingsail. It has taken the Invictus team several years to produce a ‘Cogito’ copy wing like many said was the best option to start with, but I think they learnt a lot from the slow and heavy first wing, and full marks to them for getting the new wing completed. They’ve got many little tweaks to do, but it is great to see one of these fantastic boats sailing in the UK again.
I’d forgotten how awesome these boats are. One day I hope to be involved with a full on C Class project. It is perhaps a shame that the Deed of Gift AC this time around was not a multiple challenger event as a ‘Little America’s Cup’ C Class project tagged alongside would have been amazing.
The Canadian and American teams had expressed and interest in travelling with their boats if viable challengers were around so an event in the UK is a possibility. Now that would be an impressive sight.
For a good history on the class visit:
http://www.cclass.ca/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=14&Itemid=28
I’d forgotten how awesome these boats are. One day I hope to be involved with a full on C Class project. It is perhaps a shame that the Deed of Gift AC this time around was not a multiple challenger event as a ‘Little America’s Cup’ C Class project tagged alongside would have been amazing.
The Canadian and American teams had expressed and interest in travelling with their boats if viable challengers were around so an event in the UK is a possibility. Now that would be an impressive sight.
For a good history on the class visit:
http://www.cclass.ca/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=14&Itemid=28
Paralympic Team Gala Dinner.
I was up in Birmingham yesterday for a Paralympic team Expo, kit collection/swap, and a gala dinner before the team heads out to China soon. We collected our Adidas squad kit, and our Lee Cooper formal wear, so that is a few more T shirts for the collection and another suit! A good do, but almost a bit of a distraction from training, and getting everything ready before we head out at the end of the month.
Friday, July 25, 2008
2.4 News
The 2.4m Helena is sailing in the 2008 Paralympics has been delivered to the airfreight company and soon will be on its way to China. It has been a busy period sailing and testing, so it is nice to be able to breath again although only briefly.
Fri 25th July: The 2.4m Helena is sailing in the 2008 Paralympics has been delivered to the airfreight company and soon will be on its way to China. It has been a busy period sailing and testing, so it is nice to be able to breath again although only briefly.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Abby & Pete's Wedding
The weekend after the Worlds was my sister's wedding. It was a fantastic day over at Bickleigh castle, in Devon. Great setting, sunny weather, superb speeches and a good party.
Foiling after the Worlds:
With a good forecast the day after the Worlds several boats stayed around for some sailing. James Roche tried to take out the entire electronics package off the back of the Russian Volvo 70 on a group flyby!
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Racing!
4 races today in plenty of breeze. 2 races, then in for a break and back out for two more. Fleet attrition was high with only 33 of the 99 finishing the last race though. I'm in 13th overall after some average results. Struggled a bit in the breeze early on, but learnt a lot and got quicker as the day went on. Ready for the event to start now!
Results on: http://www.wpnsa.org.uk/results/entriessofar/Mothworlds1.htm
Results on: http://www.wpnsa.org.uk/results/entriessofar/Mothworlds1.htm
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