Well its been a while since we posted an update so I thought I’d put something up on the site. I would blame it on other members of the QM fleet being lazy with the blog, but then realised I hadn’t actually granted them access to post anything. Oops.
The fleet has been gradually growing over the last year or so. We are now up to 13 mothies at the club consisting of 2 x Mach2s, 3 x Mistresses (with various types of plastic surgery), 3 x Aardvarks (with various snouts), 3 x Bladeriders and a Prowler. Andrew Friend has sold his Bladerider and is gradually accumulating parts for his FrankenNinja creation whilst Jon Peates has also upgraded to a Mach 2.
Perhaps a top UK club trophy at the Nationals is in order? Best results combined of top 5 boats maybe? We must have at least 4 or 5 UK clubs that would qualify for that?!
The last couple of weekends have been pretty good for sailing. Last weekend myself and Doug joined in with club racing for a change which was good fun. I think both of us were referred to as Jesus at least a few times as we buzzed through the packs of Lasers on the downwind legs. We also swapped boats which was interesting. Its surprising how different the Ninja felt to the Mach2, the Mach 2 seemed to jump out of the water when it was ready to foil whereas the Ninja was much steadier to rise onto the foils but did seem to get there in less breeze than the M2. Doug’s Hyde main also felt quite powerful so definitely a few avenues to explore when we get the time to swap rigs.
This weekend myself, Mike and Chris opted for a windy Saturday afternoon sail. Chris was looking impressive - flying high and very fast in his Bladerider after spending time over the winter tuning it up. I was struggling to tack as unfortunately my kicker was optimised for Dubai windy – about 13 knots. On the Sunday I decided to head back to Devon for some sneaky practice in Torbay. The conditions were absolutely perfect, and I was having a great time until a pitchpoll resulted in me tearing a catflap sized hole in one of the trampolines. Speaking of which does anyone know of a decent trampoline maker in the UK that could replicate a Mach 2 tramp but with tougher Queen Mary proof material? Unfortunately the reservoir eats trampolines for breakfast….
Tuesday, 1 June 2010
Wednesday, 3 March 2010
Dubai - windy and wavey practice day
The British contingent had a windy session with big waves yesterday in Dubai. Adam launched only to bend his push rod within the first 5 minutes, he then spent the next hour and a half trying to get downwind back to the club .... apparently he tried signalling to me a couple of times that he was in distress, however I was too busy screaming like a girl and pitchpolling to notice .... sorry!
Alex suffered a crack to the hull and so had to come in early, however when I briefly sailed upwind with him the boat was looking very high and fast. Tim Penfold returned to shore rigless after tearing out the forestay plate.
The waves were tricky, long like Saundersfoot but with the occassional hole or messed up chop to trip you up. I think I was getting the hang of them by the end, partly by putting more trust in the boat. With the Bladerider in these conditions I tended to sit right up by the shrouds downwind in waves. The Mach 2 doesnt seem to like this as the nose pitches in, it seems to go much better with more ride height and then aggressively steering to avoid the holes ....
Anyway here is a video of calmer conditions from the other day. Myself and Adam had a great downwind run at the of video averaging 22 knots with a max speed of 23.7 apparently.
Alex suffered a crack to the hull and so had to come in early, however when I briefly sailed upwind with him the boat was looking very high and fast. Tim Penfold returned to shore rigless after tearing out the forestay plate.
The waves were tricky, long like Saundersfoot but with the occassional hole or messed up chop to trip you up. I think I was getting the hang of them by the end, partly by putting more trust in the boat. With the Bladerider in these conditions I tended to sit right up by the shrouds downwind in waves. The Mach 2 doesnt seem to like this as the nose pitches in, it seems to go much better with more ride height and then aggressively steering to avoid the holes ....
Anyway here is a video of calmer conditions from the other day. Myself and Adam had a great downwind run at the of video averaging 22 knots with a max speed of 23.7 apparently.
Sunday, 28 February 2010
Brits bring the rain
Friday night was the Puma party at a really cool beach bar out here called Barasti. It was quite a different pre event party I think for most mothies, loads of photographers taking pictures - some of which were apparently for the Dubai equivalent of Hello magazine - Ahlan! There was a group photo of the Mothies in the podium area which I think JP has a copy of which I'll try to get up here.
Have managed to get a few sails in on the boat now and have also been doing some bimbling so quite happy with the setup. A few of us went out for a light wind practice today, somehow drifting about in no wind seems much more appealing than usual over here.....I think everyone was struggling though to stay up on the foils, I was quite happy with my speed in the light stuff although Arnaud was able to sail a lot higher than most of us.
Yesterday Alex and Mike arrived from the UK and seem to have brought the rain with them. Apparently it only rains about 4 times a year out here so I don't think the drainage is really geared up for it. A bit like the UK with snow I guess. This morning we awoke to flood waters in places - despite it being 30 something odd degrees. Apparently in the other Ibis that Mikis and Phillip are staying in the lobby was under water! Alex also appears to have brought with him some kind of man flu so the plan is to dose him with strong drugs in order to avoid a repeat of Garda for him.
Forecast for the next few days is quite mixed. Tomorrow is light but then Tuesday is looking mental with another storm front coming through with 35 knots and more rain apparently. Perhaps we might be able to foil back to the hotel and save a taxi fare....
Have managed to get a few sails in on the boat now and have also been doing some bimbling so quite happy with the setup. A few of us went out for a light wind practice today, somehow drifting about in no wind seems much more appealing than usual over here.....I think everyone was struggling though to stay up on the foils, I was quite happy with my speed in the light stuff although Arnaud was able to sail a lot higher than most of us.
Yesterday Alex and Mike arrived from the UK and seem to have brought the rain with them. Apparently it only rains about 4 times a year out here so I don't think the drainage is really geared up for it. A bit like the UK with snow I guess. This morning we awoke to flood waters in places - despite it being 30 something odd degrees. Apparently in the other Ibis that Mikis and Phillip are staying in the lobby was under water! Alex also appears to have brought with him some kind of man flu so the plan is to dose him with strong drugs in order to avoid a repeat of Garda for him.
Forecast for the next few days is quite mixed. Tomorrow is light but then Tuesday is looking mental with another storm front coming through with 35 knots and more rain apparently. Perhaps we might be able to foil back to the hotel and save a taxi fare....
Saturday, 20 February 2010
Arrived....!
Arrived in Dubai yesterday for the start of week working and sailing when I can fit it in. The club is fantastic - everyone is really friendly and its a very chilled atmosphere - should be a great championships. The UK is so cold at the moment, apparently due a reversal in the North Atlantic oscillation (whatever that is). Apparently this is why Toronto is so warm at the moment and the UK is the coldest in 25 years......whatever the reason I'm just looking forward to some sailing without constantly numb hands and feet.
Yesterday the wind and shipping didnt quite play ball. The Dubai moths went out for a play in some marginal conditions, JP and Arnaud were busy knitting and so could only launch when the wind had totally died to a drifter. My boat has arrived today so hopefully I should be able to get it assembled in time for a sail this afternoon / early evening if the breeze stays.
Today is perfect - steady force 3-4 with a small chop and of course lots of sunshine.....
The rigging / launching area.
Yesterday the wind and shipping didnt quite play ball. The Dubai moths went out for a play in some marginal conditions, JP and Arnaud were busy knitting and so could only launch when the wind had totally died to a drifter. My boat has arrived today so hopefully I should be able to get it assembled in time for a sail this afternoon / early evening if the breeze stays.
Today is perfect - steady force 3-4 with a small chop and of course lots of sunshine.....
The rigging / launching area.
Monday, 11 January 2010
Bloody Mary? More like Bloody Ridiculous.
This weekend saw an intrepid band of Moth sailors descend on Queen Mary in what can only be described as an attempt to mimic the exploits of Ray Mears but in a Moth. Actually no, given the conditions it was probably more worthy of the suicidal exploits of someone like Bear Grylls….Anyway the aptly named Bloody Mary again did not disappoint with competitors being greeted on arrival by a slap in the face in the form of a gusty northerly breeze, an air temperature of -2 and a balmy water temperature of 3 degrees.
I've never sailed an event like it. I think pretty much everyone, even visitors, had to defrost their boats with warm water before launching, set their controls for the day and then defrost again in order to de-rig once ashore. It was absolutely crazy, I had to just leave my two piece mast in one piece as it was frozen solid.
So after defrosting, gritting the control rods, filling up camelbaks with oxtail soup and substituting the usual sun block for deep heat seven of us hit the water for the start. I attempted to retire within the first five minutes with the pretty good excuse of my spreaders detaching from one of the shrouds on the way out. Unfortunately however Chris and Mike were ultra helpful onshore at getting me back on the water, damnit. I was swiftly followed by Andrew who's boat had stamped its authority by giving him a fat lip (the tiller extension punched him). Doug, Ben and Alex then returned ashore with various gear failures leaving only Jonathan in his Bladerider RX and Geoff Carveth in his X8 to battle the elements. Jonathan was unlucky with gear failure, however Geoff staged what can only be described as a heroic performance given the conditions bringing the boat back just ahead of the foiling 600s to claim the foiler trophy.
So after defrosting, gritting the control rods, filling up camelbaks with oxtail soup and substituting the usual sun block for deep heat seven of us hit the water for the start. I attempted to retire within the first five minutes with the pretty good excuse of my spreaders detaching from one of the shrouds on the way out. Unfortunately however Chris and Mike were ultra helpful onshore at getting me back on the water, damnit. I was swiftly followed by Andrew who's boat had stamped its authority by giving him a fat lip (the tiller extension punched him). Doug, Ben and Alex then returned ashore with various gear failures leaving only Jonathan in his Bladerider RX and Geoff Carveth in his X8 to battle the elements. Jonathan was unlucky with gear failure, however Geoff staged what can only be described as a heroic performance given the conditions bringing the boat back just ahead of the foiling 600s to claim the foiler trophy.
The ventilation on the Bladerider was terrible, Geoff had a fence on his rudder which seemed to help him but I don't think anyone got away with it completely. Definitely time to experiment with a few combinations I think.
Next weekend the temperatures are due to get back to a blistering 10 degrees so its all on for the Steve Nicholson trophy at Northampton, 30th January.....hopefully see you all there.
Sunday, 13 December 2009
Getting Chilly
Had a couple of really good sails at the weekend. Managed to get out for a little bit on Saturday for a light wind sail and then again on Sunday for some two boat tuning with Doug in his Ninja.
The temperatures are starting to drop at the moment in the UK, which definitely didnt help with ventilation. I didnt seem to have it as bad as Doug downwind, although upwind was a different story. On starboard tack upwind I would regularly spin out either resulting in a big loss of height or coming off the foils. I tried loosening the wand elastic and not riding so high which seemed to help a bit although it never completely went away. I ditched my paddle a while ago as the ride height seemed pretty good without it, although I'm wandering whether its worth reinstalling it now.....something to try for the Bloody Mary maybe.
Still, managed to finally get some decent headcam footage of some of the runs which was good.
James
The temperatures are starting to drop at the moment in the UK, which definitely didnt help with ventilation. I didnt seem to have it as bad as Doug downwind, although upwind was a different story. On starboard tack upwind I would regularly spin out either resulting in a big loss of height or coming off the foils. I tried loosening the wand elastic and not riding so high which seemed to help a bit although it never completely went away. I ditched my paddle a while ago as the ride height seemed pretty good without it, although I'm wandering whether its worth reinstalling it now.....something to try for the Bloody Mary maybe.
Still, managed to finally get some decent headcam footage of some of the runs which was good.
James
Monday, 7 December 2009
Blowing Wings off Seaguls
Thanks to Mike Cooke’s badgering at this weekend’s training event I said I’d post an update of the goings on at Queen Mary at the moment.
On Saturday Windy Weymouth struck again and so a group of 7 or so of us descended on Axbridge for an impromptu training session. Unfortunately however the 15 knot forecast failed to materialise and so after drifting and occasionally foiling for about an hour we all came in for tea, mince pies and geek talk regarding foil lengths. Although to be honest my contribution mainly consisted of commenting on how nice I thought Alex’s spreaders looked – white carbon – just like Toblerone.
Sunday was a different story altogether at Queen Mary with Torbay style ‘Champagne Sailing’ conditions – i.e. pleasant sunshine but gusts that could rip the wings off seagulls – literally. I arrived at the club just in time to grab a coffee and watch Chris slowly drift in sideways having done a Jiff and leapt through his mainsail (the life ring in the photo was purely coincidental Chris, honest). Mike similarly went out for a ‘play’ and hurt the feelings of his main foil so much that it broke off and tried to actually kill him by flying up through the tramp – scary.
On Saturday Windy Weymouth struck again and so a group of 7 or so of us descended on Axbridge for an impromptu training session. Unfortunately however the 15 knot forecast failed to materialise and so after drifting and occasionally foiling for about an hour we all came in for tea, mince pies and geek talk regarding foil lengths. Although to be honest my contribution mainly consisted of commenting on how nice I thought Alex’s spreaders looked – white carbon – just like Toblerone.
Sunday was a different story altogether at Queen Mary with Torbay style ‘Champagne Sailing’ conditions – i.e. pleasant sunshine but gusts that could rip the wings off seagulls – literally. I arrived at the club just in time to grab a coffee and watch Chris slowly drift in sideways having done a Jiff and leapt through his mainsail (the life ring in the photo was purely coincidental Chris, honest). Mike similarly went out for a ‘play’ and hurt the feelings of his main foil so much that it broke off and tried to actually kill him by flying up through the tramp – scary.
Typically at the moment for me I suffered from gear failure again after launching into a slightly more sensible 18 knots or so. Its always the way isn’t it that the most shoddy, cowboy repairs seem to last longer than the diligent repairs that you do. The musto sail bag that I cut up in order to repair my tramps worked an absolute treat, despite looking like it had been sewn by an eight year old yet the time consuming repair I did on my spreaders didn’t – although I don’t think it was actually my fault this time. Apart from the failures I’m really happy with the boat at the moment though, its riding consistently high and doesn’t seem to be ventilating as much as some of the other Bladeriders given the water temperatures.
In terms of Queen Mary in general the fleet is looking pretty good at the moment. Sam has ordered some Aardvark foils for his mistress – which if Alex’s sailing at the weekend is anything to go by should get him back up to speed. Ben is also getting to grips very quickly with Martin Fear’s old Axiom and should be some good competition soon enough. In the Bladerider camp we seem to keep missing each other like ships in the night despite there being a lot of talk about benchmarking…..something for the New Year I think.
Anyone that fancies coming down to QM for a play, let us know…..might be a good opportunity to get some sneaky practice in before the Bloody Mary on 9th January!
James
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