Mundial de Moth Internacional

Fuente info Rohan Veal

Tuesday 11th August, 2009 - From Bad to Worse

With overcast skies, cool temperatures and lack of wind upstream at Hood River, we knew today was not going to be a 'normal' Gorge day. But still the race committee sent us out in about 2-5 knots and we drifted around under an AP on the water until the wind filled into about 7 knots.
I am seriously struggling for power upwind and downwind in the light winds using a mast that is at least 15% softer than most of the top end of the fleet but 25% softer than Scott's 'tree-trunk' M2 mast that he is now forced to use after his Nano 6 broke the other day.
Consequently I am using the V6 sail with more luff round to get a bit of shape into the sail, but in order to keep my height upwind, I just don't have enough pace to keep up with the top guys in the light to moderate winds we have been getting recently. I can only hope for more wind later in the week, but the forecast is not looking good.
At the start of heat five, I completely screwed my start at the boat end of the line low riding in no wind, meanwhile Simon and Scott blasted out of the blocks on the left side of the course and Scott rounded the top mark miles ahead of the pack. To top off my bad start and lack of pace, I was completely out of phase with the shifts upwind and dropped back into about 9th and stayed there till the finish. Simon somehow pipped Scott near the finish to claim the win, meanwhile Nathan was buried deep and came back to score a 4th place after nailing all the right shifts again. In heat six, the wind had built to around 12 knots, but a far cry from the 18-25 knots that I had optimised my setup for. This time I managed to get a better start off the pin on starboard and then proceeded to put the blinkers on, and sail my own race getting a number of good shifts. I can't remember the details exactly of the race, but Bora and Nathan cleared out with Arnaud finishing just ahead of me.
By the time heat seven rolled around, we had a more consistent 12-14 knots and I pulled off a pretty good start to head to the left side of the course, but tacked out early to get good pressure and picked all the shifts to finally round a mark at this Worlds at the front of a tightly packed fleet (yes that was me Mr Clean)...
I held off Bora at the bottom mark, but stupidly I rounded the starboard gate instead of the port gate mark to head out to the wrong side of the course, leaving Bora and Nathan to get in front of me on a nice lift on the left. Then I missed a few shifts, a crucial lay-line at the top mark and then some pressure downwind letting Arnaud and Dalton to get through as well, but had a pretty big gap behind me to cross the line in very dissapointing fifth.
So I am casually sitting in 6th overall at moment, just in front of Scott who is also having a bad start to this years Worlds. I am far from impressed with my performance and I am now trying to find a much stiffer mast to better suit my V8 sail in the 'unusually' light winds that we are currently experiencing. You know what they say though, "it is not normally like this".

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