Jof Heathcote is competing in the Australian Moth Nationals followed immediately by the Moth Worlds in Sorrento, close to Melbourne in Australia.
Heathcote will be submitting regular updates to SAILING Gybeset throughout the event, so stay close to see how this incredible event unfolds.
Introduction
I have been in Sorrento for the last week and its about to kick off properly tomorrow with the nationals. I have been struggling through a few new setup bits but have got in some reasonable time on the water, sailing against a lot of other boats.
The breeze has generally been far less stable than I expected, and we’ve already had a lot of different conditions. As expected, the windier it is, the further off the pace I get. The really top guys are many levels ahead. It is amazing how quick they go.
I am still working through a few things as there are clearly still setup issues to resolve so hopefully its not all doom and gloom. There are some mad boat setups here. Bent booms are in trend, and the aero fairings have become more widespread, and more extreme.
There have been a lot of people here for the last week. Upwards of 50 boats doing practise races in the last few days, and a lot of really amazing sailors around. It already appears to be a big step up from the last worlds. I have heard that we are at 174 entries; not sure at what point/if they go from 2 to 3 fleets, but presumably it must be on the cards?
Australian Champs
Today we got right into the proper moth regatta zone. Rigged, watched the breeze disappear and have been sitting around all day. This seems to be far too common. The one big benefit compared to Hayling Island is we don’t have to go and sit on the water all day to then not race.
It has been really hot and the sea breeze has been fighting against northerly gradient wind. The result has been very minimal air movement here all day. Now seeing large thunderstorms forming all around us. It doesn’t look like anything will be possible today.
Shaun Pammenter is kindly helping me out with some detailed weather info every morning; today has got him scratching his head for sure.