It’s time for my 2cents on the 07-08 Moth Nationals, and who I think will win it.

Andrew “Amac” McDougall

Last time out, Amac and the Bladerider boys handed a huge case of whip ass to the rest of the fleet. Their eleventh hour tweaks (0.9 degrees angle of attack increase, and removing control rod slop) transformed their already quick boats, combined with awesomely superior steering and boat handling in waves was enough to walk away with the title. Has the package evolved since then ? How will the MSL13 perform ?

When it comes to a regatta, Amac historically has started well but dropped a couple of heats towards the end of the regatta due to equipment failure. The early foil failures of the Bladerider are well behind them now, so don’t expect any issues here.

Speed 9, reliability 8, overall 9

Luka

Since Garda, Luka has definitely been playing catch up trying to improve his package that was way off the pace in Garda. No area has been left untouched, with wand, foils, and rig all getting changes to try and claw back some of the missing pace. Importantly this is the first title in a long time where Luka has not jumped on a new, unsorted boat days before a title.

The prowler has proven itself over the years to be rock solid, other that the spreaders and the gantries. If there is going to be a breakage, it will be in one of these two areas.

Overall with so many miles under their belts,I don’t expect either Luka or Amac to have issues here.

Speed 8.5, reliability 9, overall 9

Les

Les Thorpe’s Sector-7G is a prime example of how long a well treated moth can last. His boat handling in a blow is exceptional, however I expect him to be a bit behind in overall speed compared to Amac and Luka. I would rate him a 10 for reliability except that I have recently seen a converted Hungry Tiger in two pieces due to foiling loads.

Speed 7, reliability 9.5, overall 8

Chris Dey

Chris is always quick at a regatta, however using a borrowed prowler and minimal on water time this season will reduce his chances against the semi-pros of Amac and Luka. An out of the box Prowler simply can’t compete at the top end of the fleet anymore, without a significant amount of setup tweaking.

Speed 7, reliability 9, overall 8

Steve Donovan

Steve has all the right boxes ticked when it comes to his package, brand new Prowler, super fit, and plenty of time in the boat. At least that is what he will have next year. His Prowler Mk. V arrives direct to Wallaroo, on invitation day. The lack of boat has meant that he has had less time in a boat than me, and that’s not much. The speed of the new boat, with updated foils is completely unknown at this point.

Speed 6.5, reliability 8.5, overall 7

Summary

With Rohan, Scott and Robbo not going this year, it looks like the moth nationals are shaping up to be a two horse race. Both Luka and Amac are hungrier than ever to try and come away with the national crown. I think boat speed will be everything at this Regatta, and if Luka and Amac are close, then it will come down to boat handling. Just as Rohan and Simon Nelson are tipping along team lines, so will I. Every time Luka and Amac have raced so far, Luka has beaten Amac. I think that Luka should be able to come away with the title, and I am hoping he does.

I went out for a sail today, and the true nature of my setup, (or lack there of) is now showing. The bottom gudgeon on the boat is too loose and allowing the rudder about 5 degrees of movement to the left. This makes for some interesting foiling let me tell you.

The rudder needs an angle adjustment as well, as the boat is flying bow up. But hey at least nothing broke !

According to GPS action replay I did 17.7 knots, but I think that was a spike, and the other 12-13 knot runs feel more realistic, for the short runs I was doing across the river in front of the club.

5 bests’ average = 26.06km/h [14.07Knots]
Best Speed n°1 = 32.82km/h [17.72Knots] (118.5 meters in 13.0 sec.)
Best Speed n°2 = 24.92km/h [13.46Knots] (41.5 meters in 6.0 sec.)
Best Speed n°3 = 24.79km/h [13.38Knots] (27.5 meters in 4.0 sec.)
Best Speed n°4 = 23.88km/h [12.9Knots] (19.9 meters in 3.0 sec.)
Best Speed n°5 = 23.87km/h [12.89Knots] (13.3 meters in 2.0 sec.)
Best Speed n°6 = 23.02km/h [12.43Knots] (32.0 meters in 5.0 sec.)
Best Speed n°7 = 22.76km/h [12.29Knots] (19.0 meters in 3.0 sec.)
Best Speed n°8 = 22.74km/h [12.28Knots] (50.5 meters in 8.0 sec.)
Best Speed n°9 = 22.72km/h [12.27Knots] (12.6 meters in 2.0 sec.)
Best Speed n°10 = 22.59km/h [12.2Knots] (37.7 meters in 6.0 sec.)

So I will be fixing the rudder and making some more tweaks before I go out again on Monday.

So today was the big day, I headed out in the morning for a “systems check” run and came away with a rather large smile. After not having sailed a narrow moth for over a year with any success, much less a foiler, to get it up and flying was great, and yes it has all been worth it, even though it didn’t feel like it a couple of weeks ago when I totaled my main foil.

I didn’t get around the course, and frankly I never intended to. I had three half hour runs in total, mostly required to get the skipper back into the groove of it all.

I had a couple of minor issues, like destroying my wand rolling the boat down on to the beach, but the good thing about living a few blocks away is that you can quickly dispatch a messenger to pick up another one. Also the mainsheet works much better when you thread it around the ratchet block the right way.

The wand setup worked great, aggressively pulling the boat down when it got to high, so the skipper now just needs to learn to trust it.

Overall there a still a few things to do, but isn’t there always. thanks to Ethan, Luka, my brother Andrew, Dad, Gilly and Mark for all the help getting this far.

I missed out on sailing again this week as I had go to an auction. The good news is that we got the house ! The bad news is that I still haven’t had a chance to take the boat out. The foil is back together, with a new stevo© innovation on the centreboard flap. I had to quickly get that modification done, before the patent application goes through and the Stevo boys charge me for patent infringement.

All jokes aside, this weekend should be the weekend where the beast gets unleashed, or something else will break …

It seems that I have lost the title of unluckiest mothie around. Donosan’s old boat returned to the club to have the mast break first time out with the new owner. Once repaired and back on the water, the boat’s rudder decided that it was jealous on being on a Tiger MK1 and not Grant’s Mk2, and decided that the deck and rear flares weren’t needed anymore and promptly proceeded to start the conversion process itself.

It’s enough to make you cry …

So hopefully … everything crossed … whether permitting … I’ll foil. (Otherwise I am going to have to rename the boat AeroSKIFF )