So I have decided to pull the pin on sailing tomorrow. With a forecast of 10/15 then 20/30, instead of wasting the day hoping for a sail, it’s going to be yum-cha with the family instead.

I’ll head out after work next week, hopefully in better conditions.

hmmmm … yum-cha

We’ll the nationals are done, and I am not sure when, or if I will return and do it all again.

Back in the old days, there was always someone to race against, at all levels up and down the fleet. These days the standard has risen so much, and foiling moths are so unforgiving to mistakes that you very quickly look like sailing chump in stead of having a good fun time.

Being away from the family for long is simply not an option either anymore, and that led to some serious depression mid regatta for me.

Anyway, with that out of the way, what in the hell happened.

It took me 2 days to get the boat together. Only to have the rod end fitting file for divorce in heat 1, and that was that.

That was repaired overnight and heat 2 and 3 saw marginal foiling conditions that frankly, sucked unless you are a master of the pump-o-matic technique. Heat 4 saw the breeze fill in and another DNF for me I knew I had reached the very low limits of my ability and headed for shore.

Upon inspection on the following lay-day, I noticed that my t-join was showing some cracks on the outer laminate, so at midnight I went to bed after adding some additional carbon plates. It was at this time that the grinder decided that my finger would be a good place to visit.

The laminate had not fully cured for the start of heat 4, so I returned to our accommodation to spend an hour with hair dryers moving things along and was ready to hit the water for heat 6.

I got around reasonably well in heat 6, until the last downwind when I threw it in on the gybe and drank a gut full of salt water. The breeze filled in for heat 7 and I headed for shore and that was the end of the regatta for me.

So am I going to give up moth sailing … hell no, I am as keen as ever to keep doing that. But I am not going to head to a nationals unless I am well practised, have sorted equipment and have my family with me.

On the upside though, I am returning home with a sorted boat, and I am 2.5kg lighter so I am now only 89kg.

Big thanks to Bora for endless entertainment throughout the regatta, and my “Mum” and “Dad” Luka and Kylie for getting me there and back.

Despite my origional plans and best efforts, today was boatwork day. Foil finishing didn’t occur until late in the afternoon after everything else was done. About 15 boats headed out at various times in conditions that are so flat you could play biliards on the course.

The moth class is an interesting animal. On one hand, just about every moth sailor has a blog, some make and post video, or podcast.

As a development class, there is an opposing need, to gain some sort of technical advantage and keep it hidden for as long as possible, from as many people as possible.

When we blog, we put ourselves out there, which is both a good thing as sometimes we get complemented, but more often than not people will take a potshot or take pride in pointing out that you have overlooked some critical fact, or aspect in the post.

More and more, as the class gets more and more competitive, people are keeping things to themselves with a view to gain a competitive advantage.

So when someone seems to omit something, maybe it is not because they overlooked it, but maybe because they need to keep it to themselves, at least for a while.

So I “finished” my prep yesterday. By “finished” I mean did everything I can do without another week to get things perfect.

The new foils are fitted, control systems done, and my I have blessed the boat with my best guess at a set-up has been done, (with help from Luka).

There is still a week of finishing to make them look all Gucci, so unfortunately that will have to wait until after the nats are finished.

One thing that I did not expect is to have to do was to make 4″ long gantry adjustment bolt. In my old rudder I had but 1 degree of angle in the gudgeons, but switching to the Ilett rudder I needed to get that adjustment back into the gantry. So 2 hours with a 1/4 UNF tap later and I had a shiny new adjustment bolt. As it turns out, it didn’t need 4″, and I had to shorten it again, but at least I now have the setup I want.

So tonight we pack to hit the road tomorrow, and I get the first sail of the new foils in Melbourne, and that is far from ideal.