Perception

What's important? Co-ordination or IQ? Well to be honest sailing is a perception game. The most successful sailors are those who have their heads out of the boat and see what is happening on the race course. The game is itself is simple, you need not be a genius to work out the optimal strategy or tactic but you do need to be very sharp to see where you are in the game.

Co-ordination, athletic ability and time in the boat/familiarity help in getting the head out of the boat and sharpening perception. If you have ever had the privilege to call tactics without having to worry about doing anything else on board you know how easy it is to be "smart" when you are able to look around full time.

It works - don't fix it: Equipment Limitation

The amount of time needed to optimise equipment pretty much limits the amount of equipment it's optimal to use. The day that we can buy such perfect gear that it just goes first time on the boat and the day we can adjust our sailing technique to new gear instantly we need to start worrying. I don't see that happening any time soon.

I haven't seen anyone frantically changing sails and foils at regattas all that much to be honest. Not to mention that limiting the equipment you can measure at a regatta is not going to stop the development race and the testing of sails and masts. On the contrary you might have to hunt for the perfect all round set up or venue specific solutions by testing dozens of foils and sails - assuming that's how you like to spend your time. One might argue that this would lead to some optimal packages that would then benefit the entire fleet. However the nature of carbon masts construction and the stiffness of film sails means that reproducing rig shape consistently is far from a given - Not to mention that we are not all the same size and we do not all sail the same way.

Aftermath

The Worlds have been over for quite some time now. I have had time to read comments, listen to interviews and go over my own impressions. My efforts remain a work in progress. Although I suffered no breakdowns performance was by no means satisfying and I owe it to all those who have contributed to the program to deliver both better performance and results. Efforts will continue through the fall and winter. However it is general impressions of the Moth Circus which I want to share.

The event was excellently run at a hospitable, challenging and beautiful venue - definitely a step in the right direction with respect to the previous year. Media coverage was again excellent (congratulations to Bora for his covershot on Seahorse http://www.seahorsemagazine.com/) and the level of competitors was exceptional in every department.

The class is definitely becoming more elite, requiring a huge commitment to hard work on and off the water. Numbers were down by 50% with respect to last year although the level was unquestionably higher. The boats require far more fettling than the average sailor is able or willing to do. To pretend otherwise is disingenuous. The way forward is to continue to organise great events to incentivate all that work. The Moth will always be high committment so it needs to be high reward to succeed enduringly.

Half Way

Today is lay day, we are almost half way through the regatta and I am sitting almost exactly midfleet. Conditions have been near perfect and challenging as they should be for a worlds. My glass is half full or half empty. I am still chasing the goal of a completely comfortable set up. On the other hand having an innovative control system with less than 10 hours of sailing time on it that is aproaching the performance levels of state of the art systems evolved over years is somewhat satisfying.

The sailing conditions are perfect; the learning curve is steep. There are still 8 races in which to attempt to post some good scores. I look forward to doing my best.

Gorge Tuning

The venue is fantastic. The hospitality has been great and George from West Coast sailing has done a huge job to support the event bringing the boats down from Portland and generally taking care of competitor's needs.

Too much breeze at mid day so early morning and evening tuning sessions are on the menu. So far I have been impressed by Scott Babbage, Simon Payne and Arnaud Psarophagis. All three look on form and on the pace and all three have speedy all black mounts.

The wind is strong and unsteady and short tacking up the left bank seems fast - so it is quite likely that the young and fit will do well.

My boat now feels pretty good but I am still working on getting the rig to show better gust response. If I can get that sorted I might do OK for an old man.

Heat

I arrived in Portland together with a heatwave. Temps are up to 40 degrees which is most unusual but will be cooling off in the coming days. It is lovely here and I am looking forward to putting the boat together and going for a sail. Very nice breeze that seems to come on and off with a switch.

The folks at the Cascade Motel have been very helpful and and I am settling in and relaxing. No one's here yet and there is nothing to report for now but internet access permitting I will try to post tid bits of news. I don't have cam so no pics but I am sure someone else will oblige.

Tension system with height adjustment