Moth Worlds – A Tough Day

Jof Heathcote reports

Things deteriorated a bit today. I just didn’t have any upwind legs so really struggled a lot.

Race 9 was just slow, race 10 felt better in the one-on-one stuff, but I went the wrong way up the first beat which totally ruined it.

Race 11 kicked off in a pretty brisk 20-28 knots. There was carnage at the top mark and sadly I got involved this time. A pitchpole at the offset mark and a running tide meant by the time I was upright, I had gone back past the weather mark and had to do the offset leg again. It was really hairy and then basically just a case of sailing around the course for me. There are too many problems with my technique and potentially the setup meaning that I was just fighting the boat the whole time. It’s not a particularly inspiring way to sail.

Race 12 was a bit more normal as it was back down to about 20 knots and probably felt like the most solid race of the lot. Nothing much to say about it although by then I was really sick of going slowly and trying to hang in for height with other boats.

Results for the day were 33 46 42 38 so I’ve taken a good solid fall down the overall standings. Looks like being challenging again tomorrow. There is a long fetch for the chop to build up on. We shall see what transpires in the morning.