Wild Wadi

hmmm, so nothings really going on in my moth sailing that is worth noting...
I am writing this from Iran, and because there is no facebook, youtube or any other decent website available, I thought I would update my blog. It's been some time, but also some time since I have sailed on a regular basis, which is taking direct effect on how good I want to do at the worlds here in March.
However I have hooked up a sponsorship with Wild Wadi, the arabic themed water park in Dubai, who are taking care of my spars and sails needs for my world campaign :)
http://www.jumeirah.com/en/Hotels-and-Resorts/Wild-Wadi/
They are definetly worth checking out during the lay day at the world, and are in spitting distance from the sailing club!!!

Status Updatus

Just finished off the weekend with not enough wind to go sailing, but despite that effort, there was enough breeze on Friday for us to host our monthly Premier Composites Dubai Moth Grand Prix. Firstly an introduction to Premier Composites. These are the guys in Dubai who specialise in boat work, they are building TP52'S and Farr 11 Kanting Keels at the moment so they know what their talking about. Thy are also the guys who take upon themselves the smaller tasks of fixing our Moths when things don't go to plan, so we are very gratefull for that, and we are proud to have them affiliated with our Moth Grand Prix.

The Friday Race day hosted some mixed conditions, with light winds, dropping off to bare foiling breeze, and then picking up again to comfortable foiling winds. This was more of a test of our persistence and ability to adapt to the wind changes, rather than being consistent, as the results show:

Race Results:

R1 – Chris Graham, Marcel Herrera, Kerstin Sommer, Barnaby Houk, Jonny Marshall, Glenn Raphael, Rob Gough (DNR), Rob Fordyce (DNR)

R2 – Chris Graham, Barnaby Houk, Glenn Raphael, Kerstin Sommer, Jonny Marshall, Rob Fordyce, Rob Gough (DNR), Marcel Herrera (DNR)

R3 – Rob Gough, Marcel Herrera, Chris Graham, Barnaby Houk, Kerstin Sommer, Glenn Raphael (DNR), Jonny Marshall (DNR), Rob Fordyce (DNR)

R4 – Glenn Raphael, Marcel Herrera, Kerstin Sommer, Barney Houk, Rob Fordyce, Chris Graham (DNR), Rob Gough (DNR), Jonny Marshall (DNR)

R5 – Marcel Herrera, Rob Gough, Barnaby Houk, Kerstin Sommer, Glenn Raphael (DNF), Jonny Marshall (DNR), Chris Graham (DNR), Rob Fordyce (DNR)

DNR – Did Not Race


Rob Gough stopped over in Dubai for the event, in order to get some training in and measure himself against us. On the Thursday before he came out with me to get some training in on Chris' boat. We had a quick swap over on the water because he felt that I had some setup issues. After sailing it for a minute or so, and looking at it closely, he realised what the problem was, sent me in to get a spanner, and then fixed it for me. It was to do with my wand set up, and he loosened things off a little bit and now they are all running smoothly.

In the mean time when I was getting the spanner, Rob had stayed out and got some action in with the Official UAE Moth Class Association Photographer, Stuart Gordon. You can check out his album's here: http://picasaweb.google.com/stuartgordon92
by looking under the 'Moth Fly By's' and 'Moth Race' headings. Some Great Shots!

After Rob Had setup up my boat differently, it turned out to feel much lighter sailing through the waves, and it reacted much quicker. Only problem it was bouncing too much, but I suppose I'll get used to that!

I'm really glad Rob came over to sail with us for the weekend, as it turned out I learnt a lot of new tricks with boat setup and sailing tips.

I also have laid down my ideas for equipment selection for the worlds so far, and I think I will settle in and get used to a North V8, with Southern Mast and Southern Rigging.

I have also decided that I will get myself a new rudder foil made with Premier Composites, thats a little bit longer than the standard BR.

Worlds 2010, make sure your there!

Dubai Moth Grand Prix

This is what we are all about at the moment, racing on a monthly basis, to see how we stand amongst each other and then also to learn a few racing tips and tricks. It will also help those sailors who would never have competed at such a high level as the Moth Worlds here in March 2010 getting used to a competitive atmosphere and knowing what to do and how to act in regards to rules.

Here is a short promotion video that I threw together yesterday, it will hopefully get out into the public and help us in finding a small sponsor for the Grand Prix series. We are not looking for large amounts of cash, we just want a sponsor who is willing to provide the top 3 overall places and top under 18 with a decent prize at the end of the season, acting as an incentive to keep racing!

If there is anyone out there who is interested, please get in touch with me: marcelsailor@yahoo.com



Here is the newspaper report of the event:

‘Mothing’ the Arabian Gulf

The past weekend has seen one of the most spectacular forms of sailing exhibited in Dubai. Eight sailors from Dubai competed in the newly launched Dubai Moth Grand Prix Series which is to take place once a month from September in the lead up to the World Championships in March. Moth Sailing is at the forefront of modern day racing with each sailor flying about a meter above the water, with the help of modern hydrofoil technology, in boats just over three meters long and reaching speeds in excess of 25 knots.

Saturdays racing took place in close proximity to the Jumeirah Beach Park, where on lookers were amazed by the sheer speed and aesthetics of these nimble boats soaring across the water. “These boats are just phenomenal, ripping across the water today in 12-15 knots of breeze and reaching speeds of up to 40 km/h, it was perfect racing conditions” said Glenn Raphael, President of the UAE Moth Class Association. He added “Short Course Slalom Racing, similar to the professional windsurfing tour is the way to go with this type of sailing, never have we had this many spectators watching a day of racing”. The Beach Park was well visited by “Beach-goers” and truly spread the word about Moth sailing in Dubai.

This was the first ever edition of the Dubai Moth Grand Prix, with seven more events planned throughout the season. Marcel Herrera, a youth Moth sailor representing the UAE, explained the set up for such a race day; “A normal race consists of one mark and a start line. The start line is somewhere close to the beach usually, and the mark is about 400m away, directly into the wind. The boats start at the same time on the start line indicated by a horn and have to race around the mark and back to the start line, the first boat back wins!” He added “But it’s really not as simple as that, you could consider such a race to be like a horse race; a good combination of technique, fitness and tactical thinking is what makes you win”

Round one of the series was won by Brit Chris Graham, who merely took the lead away on a points count back from Aussie Glenn Raphael on equal points, with Marcel Herrera finishing up the podium in third place. The conditions were tough with the heat draining most energy reserves very quickly, but the tough competition was the biggest challenge that Chris Graham had to overcome to take the honours.

Chris Graham, fellow Moth sailor, gave us a heads-up about the class’s ambitions in the future in regards to Moth sailing in Dubai “We are hosting the Moth World Championships at the Dubai Offshore Sailing Club in March 2010. To be given the opportunity to host such a prestigious event is a huge privilege on its own, but most of the organisers will be racing themselves, which just adds to the thrill factor.” The local sailors will be joined by about 70 other sailors from over 18 nations, providing the UAE with by far the most exciting sailing event yet.

Contenders will carry their points through to the next round of the Dubai Moth Grand Prix scheduled for the 10th of October, followed by the 14th of November, 5th December, 16th January, 20th February, 27th March and 7th May.
If you are intrigued by this forefront of modern sailing and want to see what it’s all about, we strongly encourage you to get in touch with some of the sailors or come down one afternoon to watch it yourself!

ice breaker

Seeing the recent akwardness that is going around the Moth blog community, I thought that I would help break the silence and promote getting out of your pram and picking up all your toys to some people. hmm.

Saturday was a testing day for the moths that went out. Me and Max had organised some short course very informal racing, to sort out where everyones gaps in training are when it comes to getting around the course. Some of the points that we picked out:
Alex: tacks were really good, and it showed how much work he has put into it, all he has to do now is have the boat's set up sorted out, and watch out Dave Lister. He was fast around the race course but needs to be consistent with his foiling angles, and over stepping the layline didnt help, because it meant that I could sneak in just ahead of him, and carry my momentum around to give him shit air.

Kerstin: needs to sort out her tacks and gybes, mentally she made all the right decisions, but her tacks and gybes let her down in the long run, especially when the gybe goes wrong and she capsized. As for her starts, she needs more boat speed, just to get off the line with pace, so Low riding is a definet no-no, rather risk having to duck the few boats there are on the start and lose a little ground to windward, than have to low ride until reaching clear air to get on the foils.

Marcus: Put spacers on the vang spinlocks, so that you can actually pull it in all the way and not get that ugly twist at the top that all Moth sailors have become really used to. Manoeuver's were well planned and upwind speed was good, but that vang could have been critical in getting that boat speed, helping the sail go throught the tacks and stop the sail from crashing across on gybes. Speaking of gybes, it would really help both Marcus and Kerstin if they pitched their boats to leward abit before gybing in order to get it to carve its way through the water, and also so that the steering can be quicker to keep the boat speed up and let the battens 'pop' easier. Also change the mainsheet strops configuration to be an upside down V again instead of the A at the moment, this combined with lengthening them a bit more, will mean that the sail is being pulled sideway to sheet in, instead of diagonally up and down, which loses both effectiveness and time, because the boom will never be centreline, and the distance and strength needed to pull the main in block to block is much greater.

That all for today.

Dubai Worlds 2010 will be amazing! so put it in your diary, book the airfare, get your visa, get a shipping quote & BE THERE!

One of the best moth videos (what another one)

Im never any good with thinking of a witty or clver title, so ill just leave it blank.

I got my boat back about an hour ago from Premier Composites, and I must say that they have done an excellent job on repairing my deck, wing bar rack and gantry bolt. So now the boat is back, I will get onto the job of re-assembling it tomorrow morning before it gets too hot, and then I might go for a sail over lunch. Which will be me reunited with my machine once again :)

Sailing for me is desperately necessary as I need to get back into a sailing rythm before the DXB worlds next March. I have got my physical training sorted, with going running nearly daily and swimming, playing badminton and visiting the gym becoming more frequent too!

I am 100% certain that the worlds here will set the benchmark so far. I heard that no matter how little you do, it will be better than Weymouth. But Dubai will be good, Chris, Glenn, Joel and Lisa know what they are doing and will have it all planned out, so, BE THERE!.

form guide 2009

So this is my form guide for the 2009 Moth worlds at the Gorge:

1st- Nathan Outteridge

2nd- Arnaud Psarofaghis

3rd- Rohan Veal

4th- Bora Gulari

5ht- Scott Babbage

6th- Simon Payne

7th- Chris Graham

8th- Amac

9th- Glenn Raphael

10th- Kevin Hall

no questions asked.

limping along

For those who were curious about my entry into the Europeans and not showing up, its because I had problems with the freight company :( So I have set my sights on the 2010 Moth Worlds in Dubai instead of anything in between.

In the mean time, I am looking for a set of racing foils! My foils have been scratched badly over their time in use, and are no longer in a good racing condition, so if anyone knows of any bladerider foils for sale, then please let me know.

But that isnt the only problem I have at the moment, my deck is cracked about a foot long, my gantry bolt was one of the not stainless steel ones and my rear wingbar attachment to the deck is cracked! But i strongly belive it wasn;t because of my way of sailing or treating the boat, but rather the previous owner and the sun combined :(

So I predict a trip to premier composites, to fix all that and whilst im there I will get my trailer strengthened too.

confused water

So this is what the water flow in Dubai looks like. The red dot labeled 'UMMS' is the sailing club and for the worlds we will be racing all over the sheltered area. This kind of makes it hard to apply tactics, etc.

catastrophy

Today my mast cmae down as I wass doing tacking practice down by the island, and I was getting somewhere when I did one last tack from port onto starboard, so I could be on the layline back to the club. But that was not meant to be, I tacked across, catapulted myself onto the new side, when I hear a bang and a screech and see myself going into windward and my mast going the other way.

First thought, oh shit, I was nowhere where anyone could rescue me, and therefor spent over an hour de-rigging my boat in the swell, and using the windward trampoline as a sail to slowly but surely make my way to the beach, about a half a kilometer away, the only fault, I was being pulled into the bay area from the suction flow, so as I got closer to the 'ladies beach' (where I am not allowed) I had to turn more upwind and attempt to get to the beach club next door.

Whilst I was drifting I had 4 boats come past, who neither were bother helping me, and even a coast guard helicopter hover above me and then do nothing.

Once I got to the beach I had to fight my way over a restriction line to stop swimmers going to deep, which wasnt easy with my foils still being in!

Once at the beach, three helpful lads came over to help me lift the boat onto the beach, after completing that effortful tast, as they had no-idea what to do, I went with one of them to borrow their mobile. There I called for help.

Joel our sailing manager then arrived on a rib, and we loaded the boat and gear up and drove back. At the club, I investigated the damage, and it didnt seem too bad. I only have to replace the shackle, bend the bracket back and find a new boom gooseneck shackle.

On the bright side, I tried my new 4-1 mainsheet purchase, and it is definetly the way to go!

-m

Charged Up

Im all set, with my batteries charged for my  speedpuck and my boat in top top tune,  I have been sailing pretty much 12 hours a week until now, and im on the right track to be ready for the worlds.

Im also thinking at going to the europeans, thinking? well ive already entered. The only issue I have now is getting my boat there :( I dont want to go through the hassle of taking my boat all the way there and back again, so im looking at borrowing or renting one from someone, but havent found anyone yet. As for accomodation, I will be camping, as for flights I will ship myself on a standby ticket, as for family? I dont know, they don't have to come if they dont want to.

So if anyone knows of anyboat for hire at the europeans, please let me know.

Video game Moth Racing

According To Chris, Moth racing is like a video game:

Level one: Going in a straight line, while very easy when you know what you are doing there is always some stupid little part in the level that is slightly above your skill set and you always wind up falling down a hole in the ground like in the Mario Brothers.

Level Two : Sailing Upwind and Downwind, While almost as easy as level one, hell you might even have the exact same level in a game, there is one extra gold coin that makes all the difference.

Level Three : Veal Heal, again uber easy when you have the know how, but a significant jump in level difficultness which makes any game onlooker think you have a fair idea about what you are doing, a complete red hearing as a true gamer knows.

Level Four : Gybing, This is a crux level or you could class it as the first big boss man in most shoot em ups. While you may beat the boss man with a bit of luck the first time , you always find a better and quicker way to beat him each time you play the game.

Level Five : Competitive Race : While its all well and good being able to play the first four levels, at some point you need to actually learn what each button does and some different button sequences to do different moves..... and remember them. This is a bit like Tony Hawks skateboarding where there are at least 1 million different combo trick things you can do (an experienced gamer told me this). When you learn the correct combinations, a race comes together and you look fairly respectable.

Level Six : now even for an experienced Gamer things are becoming tricky and deaths more common. In Moth sailing, this is gacking in my book. Its pullable most of the time but even the top boys still fuck a few of them up. But when you pull the most ridiculous trick in Tony Hawk and meant to do it, then you can sit back on the couch with a air of smugness.

Level Seven : learning to Foiling Tack. There is a massive difference between learning and doing consistently. This is the level where a top gamer can look decidingly average. An inexperienced eye will look at the sailor and gamer and say to his muscle bound mates on his power boat that this sailor is shit and have a good laugh at him while blasting out the Venga boys on his crappy radio. Other experienced gamers and sailors will look and go, this kid is pretty fucking good if he is close to doing one of those quadruple back flips while pulling out a gun and killing off the first big boss man with his eyes shut.

Level Eight : This is the daddy big boss man, this is it, the top, the impossible, the holy grail. No matter how many times you think you have him down, he still gets back up with a full energy bar and gives you the smack down. Pulling a foiling tack under pressure from starboard to port off the start line at the pin end to cross the whole fleet. Foiling tacks on request coming in on port layline with 100 plus foilers on starboard.

Can you complete the game?

Looking good so far

I have been able to sail for the last three days, which is amazing for this time of year in Dubai. Whilst blowing a steady 12-14knots, I was happy with my boat speed both up and downwind, so i decided to do some tacking, or shall I say facking, practice. I still havent got it right, but I feel that im coming awefully close to pulling one. I clocked over 20km worth of sailing today, which is more than once around the world Islands. I checked my speedpuck after today, and speedplay told me that I could have completed the round the world trip, in under 1 hour and 30 minutes, taking into account upwind, wind angles, etc. Therefor I will have a stab at Rohan's Round the world record on Saturday, providing that the wind is blowing more than 12 knots from a westerly to southerly direction, or Northerly, meaning that I spend the backside of the palm, on a run or reach.

I clocked 20.2 knots 10 seconds average in a strong gust today, so I think the Dubai water temperature is favourable for attempting to break a speed record ... you can bet that I will be out next time it blows.

Kerstin got her new KA Sails today, for which I managed to find her a sponsor to buy them. Hopefully my new North and Souther Spars kit will get organised fairly quickly, as I cant stop thinking about it...bit of a dejavu from when I wanted a Moth!

I will be running for commodore for the next year...sort of as a pisstake... but we will see, If i get voted, I have alot of changes that I will propose, for the benefit of the Moth Class. 

VOR, next time around might be seen in the gulf, so I was thinking, if India was a problem to get to because of piracy, then wont the gulf be a disaster? 

Moth Nationals, will be in late October, and we will have round two of the Nationals acting as a pre-moth worlds event, on the week before the Worlds here in Dubai.

thats pretty much it from the frying pan!

-m

Chris' times in Rio

I dont know why this got deleted, but here it is again (click on it to make it bigger)

www.moth.ae

We are in the process of launching our new IMCA UAE website, www.moth.ae!

Its going to be alot of work keeping it running and up to date, but that should be no problem accomplishing.

Stickers are on their way too, to advertise the website and the IMCA UAE here.

BTW, this is an old picture, this is how they treat Cargo here in Dubai!, the box nearly fell off when they moved it!

Invitation

Pre Moth Worlds Regatta

Early October, dates yet to be confirmed, will be out on Sunday.

6 Boats Confirmed already

Possibility of Prize Money 

Good practice and tuning help for the 'Dubai Chop'

Have a good time!

contact me for the NOR or more information:

marcelsailor@yahoo.com

first real racing

today was most probably the greatest turn-out yet, with 5 boats on the water and 4 of them making it in time for our 'make-shift' racing. We joined in with the Laser League racing and it looked like a good 12 knot north westerly. Heres my report: Glenn, Alex, Marcus and Me got off the start line at equal times, with glenn being covered by Marcus and Me and having to tack off to get clean air. whilst this was happening, Johnny was messing about taking ages to rig and launch, Kerstin having wing bar problems and not making it out in time, and Chris just about getting out of bed, at 2pm. We then continued our ways up the course, with Glenn having the best pointing ability and speed, but alex seemed pretty close too. Approaching the layline, Glenn tacks short and hit a Lull, whilst I sail past and clear it to then tack. Glenn then pulled out of the race because his pushrod pin had come undone, leaving Alex a good 100m ahead of me, and Marcus just behind me. On the downwind I thought I had better boat speed and pointing than Alex, him dropping out on another foiling gybe, helped things my way, and I managed to climb just behind him. At the leeward mark I got caught up behind two Lasers which got me nose diving down the next wave. 

As we rounded the mark, the wind seemed to completely drop and we just enjoyed our momentum in the sub foiling conditions, we abandonned the race in what seemed 2 knots.

By then I spotted Johnny Launching, leaving it too late to get some foiling in though. 

I was happy with my boatspeed up and downwind, but still have some bridle issues that need sorting out.

All-in all a good days training and it was good to sail around a race course again!

-m

First Sail

On Friday I had my first sail on my new boat! It was an awesome feeling, everything was perfect except for that it was 4 knots of wind, gusting at 15! so It was pretty much on/off/on/off. I have to tighten everything up next time Im going sailing, but also resolve my vang problem, it seemed to long, so I couldnt get any tension on itand had a very twisting sail at the top. 

A pulley on the vang system broke half way through aswell, so I had to make something up and tie  the kicker directly to the boom, with out a pulley.

I also think that I have to get some acetone or something and get rid of all the sponsorship from Andrew Brown and Nick Fentons sails, there is alot!

anyway, have to work mornings on the weekend, so wont do much sailing then, but im trying to rally people up and go for a sail on tuesday

-m

Two more

First Vlog

This is a video that I spent 3

hours making last night after

4 hours of sailing, Boy was I

tired this morning when I had

to get up at 6.30 to do some

work in the garden, before it 

got too hot. Anyway, picking 

my boat up tomorrow so I will 

be able to sail on the weeken, 

at least Inshallah.

-m

sail-less

Still cant fit sailing into my schedule, wait...schedule? I liked it better when there was nothing to do or needed to be done, so I could always revert to sailing. But things have changed, Im now trying to make some extra money on the side by coaching and giving sailing lessons. as well as having to study for my GCSE's in 4 1/2 weeks, as well as the numerous trips that my parents have planned. yes Im going to the Musandam for a dive trip on the weekend, so I will have to fold on the UAE Nationals! 

Dont think I will miss much sailing though, Chris who was going to do some boat tuning runs is now on his Puma Ocean Racing all expenses paid Holiday in the Rio. lucky sod. So he wont be back before long, but all is good, hes promised me that he will bring me back some puma gear :) 

I lost my camera the other day, but the agony is that i dont know where, so i might not have lost it but just cant find it. which means that I cant make some movies...i was feeling very creative this week. 

Word on the street is that volvo wanna bring the race next year to Abu Dhabi:

The Pros, we get them over here, advertise sailing in the middle east, have better chance of some high profile sponsorships, maybe get to sail the boats, and enjoy their presence. 

The Cons, the harbour will need dredging out (like when the alinghi came over), we will have to drive to Abu Dhabi to see them, they will be bored shitless in the gulf and they will spend forever in the 0 knots Musandam.

I hope to get on the water soon, until then good sailing

-m

Planning ahead

Good winds today, and im gutted that I cant sail for the whole day, Ive got loads of work that I need to catch up on before Sunday, so im afraid it will only be a half days worth of sailing, but thats life. Now that I have my boat, there are a few things I have to get straight, firstly and most importantly my sailing... I have to train hard and sail loads in the near future, so that I can compete with the others. Once that has been ticked off from the checklist, it is time to improve the boat, start making minor changes and the usual boat work crap. I got myself a job in the summer, so I can make back the money I have spent on the new boat, and hopefully it will financiate whatever else I might need

Im also glad that Im not Chris' boat bitch anymore, good news for me, but chris now has to rig and pack away his boat himself. Chris is going to Rio soon to sail the Puma Mini Il Mostros...lucky guy! 

Genesis

So this is it, the start of my moth campaign :) the moment I have been waiting for for nearly two years, when Chris and Glenn got their first boats in Dubai, ever since I have been bugging my parents to buy one for me and also bugging Chris and Glenn to let me use their boat... this has come to an end now! end of the nonsense, I have got my own boat now, bought it from Andrew Brown in NZ, but im not really sure whos boat it is, but that doesnt matter much. 

Shipping the boat here with Weiss-Roehlig, because of their awesome fares, and it should be here end of the week, but not intime for the weekend to sail it. As soon as it gets here I can gaurantee I will be training loads, I have nearly 3 weeks easter break, so Alex and Me will be on the water for the majority, whilst Marcus has his A-levels to worry about. After that I have a 2 week exam study leave, but I can already guarantee no work will be done then :)

But where there was joy, there was pain. I was forced to sell my laser in order to have enough money to buy the Moth, it has done me good, got good results and some good money from the numerous cash regattas. But I compared my interests, and the moth exceeded. It is a fairly old boat, hull # 69, but has been sailed rarely, and when it was sailed last it was Andrew sailing it, so it will be tuned fast.

Who is out there? well we now have nine moths at the Club, and some tough tough competition, theres the two experts Glenn and Chris, and then there is Johnny who is sort of in an intermediate level, and then there is Marcus, Alex, Kirsten and me who fit into the beginner slots. That still leaves Richard and Allesandro, but I havent seen either of them race so I am in no position to judge.

Worlds in 2010, with enough effort and hard work I recon I can become decent enough to make it in the top 25, I will get to know the ugly 'Dubai Chop' as my own back yard, Still being in the lower 70 kilo category, I have an ideal weight for the light airs that we get all year around and can already predict for March/April. The other thing that aids the sailing in Dubai is the 12 month sailing season!

-m