Moth Fest 2012 and the Iberian Hampionships

Happy New Year!


Moth Fest 2012 will take place from 12-19th May 2012.

The weather has been ordered....(unlike last year...and for those in the north...it is 20 degrees and 10-12 knots today!)

Following feedback from last years event I have tried to change the format and feel slightly...as with the greater numbers that attended we fell between trying to deliver a fun, informal coaching event and a "regatta". This year we will be more structured so everyone knows what they are coming for in both departments.

So, in preparation for the 2013 Europeans we shall be holding a formal 3 day regatta on the 16/17/18th of May, leaving Sunday 19th to pack up, relax and recover from the Saturday night party. Unless we get a sponsor (and I am working on it...but it is hard right now!) the cost of this will be 150€. This will be known as the Iberian Hampionships (unless we get a sponsor!)

Separate to this from the 12-15th of May we shall be doing "Moth Fest". If you just want hang out and go sailing then the cost is 50€ and includes après sail beer and attendance at the organised "on - shore clinics" as well as any informal competition that we organise.

I am proposing at this stage that if there is enough interest for "structured" on the water coaching in small groups where we can achieve something constructive, I will organise this...please let me know if you want to participate in this.....one idea would be to co-ordinate this through the different nations attending so making the groups smaller....this will require coaches and ribs and fuel so will incur cost.
...but initially if you let me know what you want and I know how many I can cost it and co-ordinate it before pressing the button...PLEASE let me know what you need!

With this format fleet numbers should not be an issue ...we are equally happy with 20 or 40!

As always if you need any help/information etc then please let me know!

I look forward to hearing from you all.

That nagging voice in your ear......

I have recently invested in a coaching helmet....The best part is that the student cannot answer back, but the ability to speak to the sailor in real time has obvious benefits for all concerned, and I do not need to lose my voice repeating the most overused moth coaching words of "sheet in" or "ease". The bad news is that you need to make sure your mic is turned off when exercising  coaches verbal frustration relief....



Safe...and stylish

The helmet comes with adjustable volume levels and so far has proven a great asset on the water...we love it! The ability to feedback to beginners without breaking their concentration (they do not need to look at you and can actually hear you over the rib noise). Interestingly it is also showing some foil scuffs ..... maybe we should all be wearing helmets? 

No shouting required

We opted for the head mounted mic...the ear piece is decorative...Anyone interested or wanting to know more just drop me a line.

I just can´t get enough!

It seems ages since my last blog... quite a lot has been happening in Spain in terms of mothing as well as loads of new toys in the Hillman household! More of that in future blogs as I have got a bit more time now wetsuit season is upon us here.

The Eurosaf high performance grandprix came and went......and was marked by the majority of sailors doing their catholic impression and.... pulling out at the important moment. We only managed 4 boats though the effort made from "Janne from Finland" who drove down with his Mach2 on top of his Disco deserves mention.... The only other points worthy of mention were the 29er XX fleet who upped the pretty factor of the fleet somewhat...

and lining up with the Kites! The rest of the time we spent trying to convert the F18's away from the dark side...... we went straight to the top with that one...and Mitch Booth's nipper (with way more talent then his dad ever had....) NEEDS a new Mach 2 now!

Also have the family hooked now...though my 5 and 6 year old girls still need to be supervised on the Mach....worrying that they might want to nick the boat instead of the car in the future but at least they are not going to sail Oppies! (For anyone at social services no child or animal was hurt in this process...we put them in via the Rib ...with mum on board.... and then put them back without getting them wet.... the first 5 year old in the 20 knot club???)

Made this little video ...more on the flying camera in another post....

Anorak

It was just a matter of time.....

The anorak had been left here after Moth Fest..... and with a few spots of rain and a scene reminiscient from "the mask" I foolishly slipped it on.

The rest is history...I craved the scent of epoxy...the fibres of carbon were whispering to me from the CTM repair box that Manfred had kindly donated to Moth Fest and within minutes a mould to hold my Speedpuck was underway!

It is now sunny..I managed to get the anorak off and all is well...it won't happen again! Apparently I was lucky....others had actually got the stage of putting on a bobble hat and pulling their trousers down till the crotch hits the knees and exposes the logo of their undoubtedly fashionable yet over priced undergarments.

Slightly worried about going to the TP52's in Cartagena on Friday though as I have never de-rigged the Mach 2...I am sure I even managed to get the boat rigged by some poor bugger in the first place so I am going to be a bit in the dark with all this.....the taking the sail off every time you want to go out really seems a bit of a drag....is this what the poor people have to do??? Damned uncivilised.

Ways to not Gybe

Or is it.... Ways not to gybe? Either way, I have seen more than a few variations and to help some folk with direction in their lives I have decided to catagorise a few favorites that I have witnessed coaching and running Moth Fest...

"Faith"...this is the stock gybe pulled out by those who actually cannot believe they can foil gybe...and in doing so they decide to have a break mid-gybe for some contemplative prayer in the middle of the boat...arse sitting in the middle of the hull, legs in the air, looking up inspecting under the tiller for inspiration.....or on their knees trying desperately to get the ship heading due east for best spiritual alignment before the claxon signifies the impending dive and the skipper has to order.... up periscope.

"Constipator" This categorises many a failed gybe the cause....unknown. No matter how much you try, how much effort you put in..it aint gonna happen...you will not work it out! Best go home and have a couple of pints of prune juice. With training, contemplation and perhaps use of a calculator or better still a pencil (and paper) you might get some success and finally work it out.

"Cherry popper" Who can ever forget their first? The realisation that whilst it eventually happened.... it was over all too quickly...and that if you are going to perform more frequently in more challenging circumstances then you are going to have to raise your game...this form of gybe is normally followed by a huge amount of relief that it finally happened...an inability to be be able to repeat the performance with out a great deal of recuperacion time (age related apparently!) and the realisation that you no longer have to lie to your mates ..."Foil gybes.....take em or leave em me...now working on doing em 2 up"

The "Osama" This is the one no one ever saw (at least until recently) Any initial cherry popping gybe needs independent verification...no-one believes the "I have pulled a few off"...this immediately gets the listener thinking that you undoubtedley pull off things all the time.

The "Peach" the one we dream of frequently and achieve ocassionaly. She is a shy, rare creature and we look on in awe if we see someone elses peach... like your best mates really hot girl/boy friend (delete as you wish) we would endeavour not to get caught looking at a peach...and would actually always deny seeing a peach, even if pushed by the owner of the fore-mentioned peach.

I am sure there are loads more out there......

Mach2...the family boat

Just managing to get sailing again but the thumb is still not great and with so many clients at the minute I do not have much option!

We are now fully in to the Summer here and that means thermal afternoons so the guests we have are enjoying late mornings before a few rounds of afternoon Moth Wrestling. I have had all kinds of really cool people out recently...including a brain surgeon and a rocket scientist (straight up!) After a few days of bladeriding (to build my confidence!) they are given a go on the Mach2...and the rest is history (along with their bank balance)

Getting bored sailing on my own so took a passenger the other day(hope that does not invalidate the warranty!)

Just starting to get interest for the Eurosaf high performance regatta in october...that is going to be awesome sailing with some cool boats as well as the kites (they are having their Kite cross world champs the same time) more info on this soon or just shout if you want to know more!

Just trying to sort attending the TP52 regatta in Cartagena where the Spanish fleet will be putting on some demos in the harbour...The fleet is getting stronger all the time and with Adam May turning into a Spaniard we should have a reasonable turnout including class presidente (and the only true spaniard) Pablo Arandia who has also been off doing the UK nationals.

Breeze just kicking in here so have to go...trying hard to send some of this up North to Germany for the Euros!

Moth Fest Charity Work and Mach 2 Gucci Bonnet

Most Mach 2 owners seem to file the bonnet somewhere other than its intended location...I always think that is a shame as no doubt Amac intended the boat to look like Adam Mays beautiful interpretation above.....Gucci!

More photos of bits I liked on Adams fantastically prepared boat in future blogs.

Many thanks to all those who were forced to donate to our Moth Fest charity. Thanks particularly to Manfred Schreiber for his unforced generosity... and all those of you who deemed it necessary/suitable to wear speedos for public display.

We raised enough money to re floor one of the physio rooms in a local centre that helps kids which you can see in the picture! They find it hard to get money to upgrade this kind of stuff as well as going through a load of admin. so Paloma and I just sourced and bought it after asking them what they most needed...and here it is in place!

Every little helped and the Centre is extremely grateful...as are we. Our eldest daughter had attended this centre for physio since she was born...she leaves next week as they only cater for pre-primary so I am sure she helped trash the old floor! Anyway, we have a child who can walk, run and jump despite her difficulites in life and that has certainly been helped in no small way by this centre. We hope that the many kids who pass through the doors in the future have as much fortune as we did.

We aim to do more in the future.......we will have lots of photos going up of Moth Fest in albums which we will happily send to you in hi-res, free of charge(sort of).... as soon as you have donated to the charity. More details soon...

Misery still shrouds my personal Mar Menor as I have been unable to get in the Mach 2 in nearly 2 months as the dislocated thumb is still not healed..the plans to hit the UK nationals have been shelved. On a happier note the Moth School is still popular with Europe still seeing Foiling as the way forward. Hoping it continues.....

Extremely jealous of everyone going to Stokes Bay...fingers crossed for the weather!

My forecast based on what I know(very little!).....not knowing who is going.....and not having seen the Stokes Bay Ninja's....

1. Si Payne

2. Mike Lennon

The final podium is up for grabs but contenders for me would be Taggy if he is not in Casualty, Richie Lovering if he doesn't choke, The Stokes Bay Ninja's . Others for a race win? Pete Barton if he has not parked it on a groin, Ben Paton if he can tear himself away from the tanning booth and Graham Simmonds if no-one else turns up. Apologies to anyone I ignored/abused or otherwise offended.