Countdown

Hmmmm, seems like there is pretty good competition out there! That Nathan pulled off 5 bullets is nothing less than frightening from our perspective. The conditions for the Aussie Nationals were  extremely difficult. Shifty, light to medium breeze, tons of kelp and an unpredictable Race Committee. There are a couple of other guys missing in the top ten (who mostly didnt sail all races) including Simon Payne, Brad Funk and Tom Slingsby. They will definitely also be up there once the Worlds kick off.  The format of the Worlds is based on a qualification (4 days) and final phase (2 days). Interesting is that we will carry the finishing position of the qualification phase forward as a single, not-discardable race. That means it will be another open wide ball game once the Final phase starts. Good for me as I'm still kinda struggling with some boathandling and speed issues, which I hope to have sorted out by the time the finals come around.
As you all know by now Bora, Bear and myself have opted not to sail with the wings at this event. A lot of time and effort was spent getting them to point where they are now, but we are still missing some down wind speed. Having to go back to the "soft" sail was tough, but the right thing to do if you are serious about winning the Worlds. And that's Bora's main objective here. It's going to be tough to pull off another win for Bora as he did at the Worlds in the Gorge two years ago. Then he was simply faster, had better boathandling  and felt at "home". This time there are more serious contenders for the title and the speed differences are smaller. Bora can definitely pull it off, he has all the skill needed to do so. Key will be to focus on tactical issues, not trying to inch out another half a knot of boatspeed.
The forecast calls mostly for good breeze out of the East / North-East (less weed, hurray), so this will mix up the results as well and be in favor of Bora's skills.

I will leave you with some pictures from the boat park where you can see why this class is sooo cool. Some of these Moths are works of art!
US Airforce team out

Wooden Moth with wing mast!

Over the years this moth has seen its fair share of fairing!

Brad Funk shows us how to drain water from a Moth

Check out all the weed on the Headstay

Double Wand action

One of the more radical designs...

Another wooden Moth