Australian Moth Nationals - Day 0

Practice race today with a forecasted 5-10 knots being a passing fad (much like solid wing sails). Competitors were greeted with a beautiful sunny day, a few puffy clouds and a perfect 10-15 knots. By the time the race rolled around it had built to the high teens and the waves were getting the better of plenty of ppl. Lucky it was a practice race though because there were a few competitors with some wrinkles to iron out of their boats and themselves, Markla and I included.

My boat held together but after one lap, numerous capsizes downwind and a bit of carnage about the place I decided to head back in. I was quite happy with my upwind pace but after some Welcome Dinner discussions, have decided to try increasing the gearing a bit to try and make downwinds a bit easier.

Markla on the other hand has found some lights to repair his foils after todays shenanigans. The flap nut ripped its thread and the rudder lifter tried to rip itself off the bolts. They're both relatively minor repairs, however rigging lawn repairs come with their own set of difficulties. All the parts are ready to go, and he's setup in a lighted corner beside the clubhouse. Good luck Markla!

Markla is not alone, there was a number of resin pots being mixed, grinders getting grinding and sika flex mending going on. Robla busted his bladerider rudder gantry, but it looks like he's found someone with a spare already so should be good to go again tomorrow. Tomla enjoyed the fresh breeze and open waters of the lake (compared to Cooby Dam), until his pushrod gave up. We spent a while trying to remove it from the flap nut but it was broken just too short.

As usual, the tops guys were carving it up without too much drama. Hard to tell at this stage who will take the title, bar talk was that there were plenty of lead changes today.

Tomorrow are the first races. Wind predictions range from light to 25 knots, we'll see how that goes...