Happy go Lucky

So lots of people around me are getting stressed out about not sailing well/no boat/ broken bits..... I am currently cruising in my own little world just happy to be out on the water and away from Dubai/ bad office environment.

Had a shitty morning after changing my axle and then it inexplicably it seized??? How does plastic seize to stainless steel. So i had to come in and make a new one which worked much better. Then hit the water and had a good session with Matt Belcher and AMAC doing some upwind runs and boat handling drills. Good stuff!

Having a bbq so if any of u lot are reading this and wanna come over, get to 129 high street and come in the back door!

Tuning Tuning

Another tuning run today after my disaster which was yesterday. It is apparent that i have not done enough sailing in big breeze....... oh well i enjoyed it tons and tons. I got more burnt today than i do from sailing 5 hours in Dubai, weird.

So, i changed a few things this morning to try and sort out my issues of yesterday, namely not being able to keep my boat in the water and ventilation problems. Went well and had great height and good pace too, even almost pulled a few foiling tacks, but alas not quite.

Down wind on starboard seems to be my problem area. Did some boat work just now and fixed up my axle some more so will sail tomorrow and see where that takes me, also making a new axle in the morning. Feeling quite happy withe everything is relative terms, it always takes me three or four days to get my boat to where i want it after i have taken all my things apart so one more day should see me close to 100% of my set up. Sitting about 80 to 85 % of where it normally is right now.

Cob Webs

Blown the cob webs away today from the box with steady 22 knots gusting 25/26 in Weymouth harbour.

Few teething problems, new wings were a bit slippery as was new mainsheet but all in all no major drama. Bit too breezy to be practising foiling tacks, no swims apart from one when i got blown over by a gust while stopped. Chilling now at the house, bit sailing stiff after two weeks off the boat, longer day out there tomorrow if the breeze is a little less gusty and gear friendly.

Lots of boats turning up now, tried to make sure they were all the correct way up as AMAC'S boat was upside down when we got here.

British Hospitality

Ah yes i forgot how warm we as Brits are as a race!! Firs thing i had said to me...... make sure you tidy up and no you cannot unpack in the hanger even though its blowing mid 20's out in the bay! Thanks for the hospitality fella's! How am i supposed to be tidy when i have so much stuff in my box.

The I 14's were having their nationals today, they all went out with breeze in the low 20's. They had an interesting sail but got sent it, good spectator sport! Not a lot happened as going out and breaking something on my first day here is not on the agenda, so took it very very easy and got everything sorted slowly. Forecast tomorrow is even windier so not looking like we will get out on the water again. Sail numbers time..................................................

Lots of people interested in the moth's in the boat park..... or is that Sam England?

Rolling into Portland

In Portland, its cold but still a nice day. Just had fish and chips and cruising in the house. The boats are all there, did not bother unpacking them tonight but they all look ok and my mast is still in one piece. Not much breeze about though....... Looking forward to getting on the water tomorrow and getting up and running.

The locals as usual in Portland look like they want to stab me, possibly as we were walking about in vests and shorts at 9 30 pm looking for food.

Bed time.

Checking out

When ever i go away from home and check in to the airline i always think it should be called checking out. I am OUTTTAAAAAA this town.

have 27 meters of spare mainsheet rope..... got a bit carried away there i think. There is method to the madness. 2 mains for me, 2 for Glenny boiiiii and 2 for Bora with a spare few for John if he needs! Tons of 1 mm spectra, loads of carbon plate laid up, bungee, loads of control line rope. My new i phone.

Still got a million things to do. Worst comes to the worst i have my PP, ticket, car hire thing, phone and a boat. Fuck everything else. Fuck Work, Fuck the summer in Dubai, Fuck it all, lets go sailing.

See all you peeps that i have never met in a few days. Loads of well wishes from all the sailing club people, loads of good luck stuff, even my grandad was threatening to come down but thats not looking likely with his condition, im sure he will be with me in spirit, i wish he could come and see me sail, he has never missed one of my sailing escapades yet but it looks like he is not going to make this journey. Love you grandad. x

Last Minute

I am going a bit stir crazy without my boat. Having sailed so much in the last 6 months to get to some kind of pace in the moth i am feeling it. Not having my boat here to jump on when the wind blows.

last minute things to do include :

Buy some wax as the sun and heat has melted everything on the deck.
Buy a new watch as i smashed mine last March........ (thats a while ago) while attempting round the world record in 33 knots in my 49er. Not sure how i did it but we got in a bit of trouble as it was super super gusty, had to drop the main and come in under jib only.
Cut some spare mainsheets and control lines.
Cut up my carbon plate so it fits into my bag.
Get rid of cold.
Find UK driving license
Pay to enter event
pay for my new shrouds
Pick up my marine pool sailing kit off Sultan, not 100% keen on the pink hat though mate.
Pack

Do work handover........ i am looking forward to this the most.
Go climbing.

So not too long a list of stuff to do to be honest, most of it is quite easy. Looked at the weather station for Weymouth but judging by the weather in the UK today i do not think there is any point in watching that, that storm alone must have screwed up the June readings for this month already. Here is the report that we had done on us a couple of weeks ago. Not too bad for a non sailing journalist but am disappointed with them that the did not put any of the quote in that we got sent. As usual in Dubai they blow it all out of proportion.... they mis quoted me about where i want to finish, ill be happy with top twenty. Also, sorry to Simon P, i said i read a report in 2006 about them in seashorse by Rohan, not that Rohan was the 06 champ.

You at the back with the French Braids!!

Whats your name son???

My name is Snoop.

What you wanna be when you grow up Snoop?

I want to be a motherfucking hustler......... you better ask somebody.
This is for the G's and this is for the hustlers. This is for the hustlers and back to the G's.

I forgot just how good Snoop Dogs' Doggystyle album is and have had it on all week. Nothing else going on, when the weekend came the wind died so we did not get out on Ale's boat. Our press release came out today but i not seen it yet, will go buy it later. Three days to go, only two more days at work, still need to enter and buy some other things, need to cut more main sheets and control lines.

Looks like team Russia are going to be in Portland harbour as their base until the end of summer, so i will pop down there and give big ups to Oleg and meet his gang. Hopefully get a ride fingers crossed. My time in the UK has developed into meeting lots of people, no sure if i really want to though. Still undecided about round the island and extreme 40 sailing with team aqua on the 29th 30th. I laid up a 10 inch square of carbon to cut down and take with me, so i have tons of ready made carbon plate if anyone needs any. Ok, back to sleep, why am i awake at 7 45 on a saturday.

It is not usually like this

Since the boats have gone it has blowing every single day. Only 6 days till i fly and three more days at work. Could be my last three days at work, shall see what develops.

Its hot and i hate running. couple of parties to go to this weekend, not got my boat to play with, might go out on Ale's for an hour if he is around but not too fussed to be honest. I think a few days away from the boat and sailing will do me good, will get to the UK with a freshness and more enthusiasm than i normally do, which is a lot anyway.

What shall i do after the worlds? Its going to be too hot to sail for two months or so..... might do Cowes week, would like to do something a bit different, some match racing would be good fun i think. I can tel you one thing that ill do different. I will be having a steak for lunch for a month.

I am chilling at Gareth's house at the moment, doing some work and talking Sb3's. He is talking technical IRC????!!!! numbers and stuff. Also talking weight and other weird technical things that i cannot and have never been able to grasp in sailing. i think that is why i do not like keel boats, i have no care for the difference between 1.234 and 1.236 points in the IRC ratings. What the fuck does that mean anyway, isn't that why you pay people to do things!!! Ive not been particularly humorous in my blog recently by my own high standards so i've been thinking about how to make myself giggle. I could not think of anything at all.... lost.... so i am going to go back to basics and have a dig at Bora. hahaha. Yo Homie, i hope you bring your sun glasses to the UK dude cause my boat is white and looking at the back of it all day long is gonna kill you.

Suspicious alertness

I am maintaining my constant state of suspicious alertness now the UK has upped the terror threat of Dubai to the highest level. Just as well i am flying Emirates to the UK and not BA.

Not sure what that is all about but it has definitely made some people turn their heads. if a bomb goes off in Dubai it will send the house prices tumbling and a lot of people will loose a lot of money.......................... Sell Glenn Sell.

Can't live your life in fear of what others will do, just gotta take it as it goes. If im gonna get blown up then im gonna get blown up. You win some, you loose some. KA.....BOOOOM. Just as long as they do not take my moth down with me.

Hurricane force?

I just got an email through predicting hurricane force winds with hail and thunderstorms in Dubai on friday???? in Dubai?? They sure they have the correct continent? Maybe they mean Dublin or somewhere like that? Its the summer here. Ah well, will be a bit of an adventure.

When i started this blog i though about it for a while before doing it because blogs can make people sound like assholes and take things in the wrong context. They also make people sound very very arrogant too. And there is also the problem of not being bothered to write anything and it being a waste of time. I see it like a diary, my grandad used to keep a diary everyday, and everyday he would write in it. My blog is what i see as an online diary and i do not see the point in having a blog if you are not going to post or update it. Right?? or Wrong?? When i sell my boat after the worlds i will have no boat to sail on save for teaching Simon how to stay upright and stop the cackling at the other end of the camera like in our video. When i loose the will to write on this thing i will simply delete it!

Another early one for me today, 7 30 in my shed counting bits....... i am really not enjoying myself right now and feel very very trapped by a few different things, the timing of the worlds could not be worse for me at the moment. I am likely to be in the Uk sailing when a big decision is going to be made about my future, which i would prefer to attend, hence i did think about not going to the UK at all last week when it as really bad, but then i added up how much it had cost me..... back on the plane again as anyone that is not sponsored with free bits/ tickets/ anything else knows its costing a fortune.

All in all, doing well in Weymouth has been at the very back of my mind, i have been sailing my boat so aggressive lately and it just does not suit my sailing style at all, i am not the kind of sailor that can force a boat round the track. I have been sailing like that due to a fair bit of stress at work from our holding company. So many little things are niggling at me right now, i sent my boat in the box miles away from being in race condition, it was so sloppy, just feels so loose, i just did not have the time to set it all up, i will take the entire day on the 25th to get it right before going sailing.

I bought a new pair of polarized sunglasses..... what is the difference between polarised and non polarised? Someone please explain to me. By the time everyone turns up in Weymouth i should of had three or four days sailing under my belt, so i should be in a better mood, come over and say what up to the Dubai crew! I' m easy to spot!

Operation Moveout

The next time i go sailing i will be in full wet cold wet suit gear. Breeze was on again yesterday and went out for the last three hours before packing the boat up. It was windy enough for Glenn to use his 10b. The first time since he was in garda. It makes him go fast uphill, we both hit 23 knots and were cruising downwind over 20 all the time.

Had a good sail followed by trying to get my boat to pieces. My port rear wing and main tube were stuck together so that took a hammering to get it out. My mast stump required two of us to get it out with a bar tied to it. My axle has seized to the trailer so that was a grinder to get that out, annoying. But the boats are snug to say the least, tons and tons of stuff going into the boxes. We could not fit our super duper tool box in there. At work today at 7.50 am, i need a snooze already.

Ten days no sailing or stealing ale's boat, probably the later. time to get down the gym.

I got a funny email this morning, Luca this one is for you.

A bus stops and 2 Italian men get on. They sit down and engage in an
animated conversation.

The lady sitting next to them ignores them at first, but her
attention is
galvanized when she hears one of them say the following:

'Emma come first.
Den I come.
Den two asses come together.
I come once-a-more!
Two asses, they come together again.
I come again and pee twice.
Then I come one lasta time.'

The lady can't take this any more,

'You foul-mouthed sex obsessed pig,' she retorted indignantly.

'In this country. we don't speak aloud in Public places about our sex lives.

'Hey, coola down lady,' said the man. 'Who talkin' abouta sex? I'm a justa
tellin' my frienda how to spella 'Mississippi'.'

And you wonder why i never understand what the bosses of the company are talking about over here. Hmm font change, too lazy to change it back.

After we had packed the boats up last night we saw four distress flares go up off the world islands, we called the coast guard and did the right thing, followed by ordering another beer to congratulate ourselves on saving the guys life. He must have bit in a bit of trouble to send up two parachutes and light two handhelds.

Go Hard or Go Home

The breeze that was forecast materialised. It was windy this morning and i got to the club bout 9am. You know the feeling you get when u turn up and think, hmmm tis a bit breezy today, this is making me a little nervous. I had that. I was thinking, really do not want to break anything before the boat ships, so i had to give myself a smash around the head and say, go hard or go home Chris. I chose to go hard.

Was the windiest its been in a long while today, i wish i had a 10b to play with but the X8 had to do. I had the 13 in the van but did not want to roll it out for the first time in 20 + knots. Went out and had a good blast, Glenn never came as he was moving house today.......???????????????????????? haha. Had three or four outings and was real good to blow the cob webs away, i was beginning to think i would never be able to sail a moth in anything over 13 knots until today where it went surprisingly well. I only really had one capaize, which i lost my sunny g's in. They had a good life, 15 months with the same pair, i think that must be some kind of record for me. I am uber tired but going out again tomorrow at about 8 am to get three or four hours in before dismantling and sticking all three boats in the boxes ready to be sent to weymouth. 11 days till i jump on a plane. So... fingers crossed a sail ok and have some kind of pace. All the gang went to a brunch today at 12 noon and got on the piss, standard Dubai friday for people that do not have a hobby. I have had about 15 calls and 20 texts all of which include the word gay in them, it is apparently gay to go sailing the day before your boat leaves to be shipped to a world championships. So in retaliation...... i am going to call everyone of them at 7 am on a saturday morning to see how the day was and how there hang overs are, possibly invite them all down to the club for a spot of afternoon sailing and a pimms. I think i will be told to fuck off by most of them, tit for tat boys and girls!! Ok, three hours left until i have to wear a wetsuit again!!! YUK!

Stress

Its all getting a bit stressful at work right now. I am not really enjoying myself so very much looking forward to getting out of Dubai for a while to have a think about things and what i should do. The atmosphere in our office is awful.

No Breeze yesterday and quite frankly i have far too much on to get in the boat at the moment. I was hoping i could run into this week and sail every day before my boat went but i only got out on tuesday so far. I will get out this afternoon and its forecast to be twenty knots tomorrow so i will be out as long as possible before pack up on saturday. Anyways...................... bring on Weymouth.

Some pictures of the damages i have achieved in my first 6 months of moth sailing....... my old foil which i snapped,and Glenns old white boat, which had a life span of about 10 days after i was finished with it, when i went in sideways after i snapped main foil i ripped the deck off!!! Woopsie! i do not have a picture of the exploded gantry but thats in there as well. Oh and i forgot to add the pic of when i ran into the cardinal mark, thats just plain ugly and i still get the cold sweats when i think that i actually did that (i am such a dickhead).

Also a pic of Sultans 60 foot dhow, these boats are so pretty if at the same time so massively unpractical.

Yup Yup

Feeling a bit better today so had an early evening sail with an interview from the local sports paper and some pictures. Have some quotes sent to them as well from Alex Harris although not sure if she wrote the quote for John Harris or not, saying things like that about Bora............. ( i edited it so there are less nasty words in there and so it is more about moth sailing) ;0).

Glenn came out as well, his improvement over the last two weekends is staggering and i think he is going to thump me in Weymouth at this rate. Never mind. He sailed awesome today and nailed just about everything as far as i could see. Nice breeze out as well, the best breeze we have had in a long time so thoroughly enjoyed being on the water. Nothing else we can do to improve with hardly any sailing days left before the boats fly. I have run out of ideas so need to steal some from whoever is going fast in a few weeks time. Saw the results of the British Nationals, dunno any of them so it means nothing to me although Simon Payne is obviously a class apart in the UK right now, question is i suppose if anyone else in the rest of the world is better.

So, who do i think is going to win the worlds. I think Bora is going to be smoking, if he can keep it together and not be bothered by all the hype and blogging and pre event mud slinging i think he is going to be well fast. I think his lack of big regatta time and training partners is going to hinder him so i think someone will beat him, no idea who but someone will. So Bora is my prediction for brides maid with someone else out in front by not too far. Simon P or Scott B i reckon. Great White hope for top ten. I shall self destruct, so top 20.

ill again

Yup, im not doing to good right now. I went to work and spent 4 hours in my shed with no AC and am a wreck after that. I had to go outside for another three hours this arvo onto Palm island for a site visit and other things. I ventured to the sailing club for ten minutes to contemplate going sailing, it was blowing nicely but i was not up to it. I do not think i would have been able to put up my mast by myself. So i have retired to the AC to try to recover, i have been feeling very tired and weak in the last few days. Think i have had the onset of this floo that is going round. My shoulder is aching too which is always a sign i am not 100%. I hope i am right tomorrow for a sail!

If anyone reads the front page of Anarchy you will see that the omra 60 snapped in half while it was trying to break the round the world record. Still help by Rohan by the way boys, i will make it my mission after the summer to break it before Christmas. The report is a bit of a joke, the David Beckham of sailing?? Who is he? Am i missing something here? I do not think David became would fall over in the tunnel on the way to the pitch. I went sailing as they were reversing backwards at 1 knot into the marina and gave them a wave and did some show boating in front of the coast guard and photo boys, and gave David Beckham the thumbs up for a job well done. Hilarious, and to top it off, word is his insurance ran out ten days ago........ bummer.

Flat out

I have been working flat out the last week and sailing flat out when i can. I have spent a small fortune on my credit cards. I went sailing yesterday and tried to change the way i sailed upwind as i was not happy with Glenn being so close to me upbreeze. My thoughts revolving around squeezing the boat forwards with the pressure inside of controlling the hell with mainsheet. I just feel like there is more to get out of the upwind performance if you can force the foil to do more work. It takes a lot more concentration and makes wipe outs a lot more frequent in the chop, i have yet o try it in the flat water, one to try in my two weeks in weymouth before the worlds.

Umm not much else going on! There are lots of things going on in my life that i do not blog about, its weird, the perspective of this blog must make it look like all i do is go sailing and cruise on the beach. While i have been putting in a lot of hours on the water there is quite a lot of things happening right now, one of which i am umming and arring about is leaving Dubai and actually going to live in the UK to get into the real world.... then i wake up and realise it was all a very bad dream and why would i ever want to go and do that. I would def get a lot more competitive sailing in.

Annoyance

After three days of no breeze the Dubai wind gods had pity, giving nice late afternoon three hours foiling breeze on Thursday and good wind yesterday for Glenn and I to get out and do some big upwinds. Its very obvious we are both set up for flat water now as every time we go over any significant chop the wand flicks forward so fast we drop down on starboard. Anyway, not to complain, we had some good runs upwind and Glenn is getting his foiling tacks up and running now, the first windward he beat me to the windward mark but the other three or four i was about 50 meters in front or so.

Down wind is awesome, i am so happy with my pace off breeze. Compared to where we were when Bora, Sam and Rohan were here both Glenn 'the great white hope' Raphael and I are massively improved. Its weird to see how much improvement comes and when we think back to March now its like i cannot believe we were sailing like that. It was notably harder to pull foiling tacks under pressure of another boat around, but i got most of them away. I hope i can keep it going in Weymouth. Still not 100% happy with my wand and axle, i think there is something i am missing.

I am at work this morning but will be down the beach by lunch time ready for another long day out in the 45 degree heat. I feel like i am hungover today (i am not though). One week today till my boat disappears in its box for the UK. Then ten days without a boat to sail on, that will be the longest i would not have sailed on my moth since january. I sailed like a demon on Thursday afternoon but i was all by myself so no witnesses to to see me, you will have to take my word for it. haha!

I think we have another sailor interested in a moth, and Glenn's is going to go after the worlds so our fleet is looking like it could increase by three boats soon. It will be nice to have another sailor on pace with Glenn and i to get some more good racing.

On the Dhow schene, its moving fast, carbon bits should be in CST already. Sultan is planning a trip to Australia to see them and also the sail makers! It could be a bumper year for the dhow development team. He even mentioned having a new hull designed, anyone interested?? There is money in it!

Black Magic

I spent the night yesterday cruising round with Sultan in his jeep looking at dhow sails and dhow masts. We spent about 3 hours going from local house to local house and drinking tea with each. I was wired by 10pm. Then we sat in his Majlis for two hours having dinner and discussing the best way to get him to go fast next season.

He has warmed to the idea of having a sail made outside of Dubai on computer instead of by eye as he usually does it. They announced next season instead of winning 80,000 for first place in a 60 foot race they will win 240,000, quite a jump so every dhow sailor in the country is getting serious as it is now a whole loada cash on the table. I am hanging on the coat tails obviously.

We sent a 22 footer boom down to CST to see if they can make it same same but stiffer, Much stiffer. Also sent a 43 footer mast down there to see if an orbital one will work so it stands out when he wins a race and then everyone else will want a sexy looking mast.

I know nothing about sail making!! The north sails boys that build sails for a few fellas are using about 1.5 ounce or more but it does not look like spinnaker material, it is shinny on one side and matt on the other... any ideas sail makers? It could almost be dacron but it is not.

So... im busy.... hoping to get a few people to stop by in Dubai and have a talk to Sultan and set up some deals for the people he can sell sails and masts too. Back in the office now and there is no breeze, its becoming rather frustrating right now, so close to the event and i am loosing days on the water............................................ anyways, never mind. It is now at a stage of too little to late really.

nada

nada wind, zip, fuck all, nothing, zero. Annoying, lost two days to no wind and one to the police navy movements. Hopefully tomorrow!

Boat shipping has been delayed a day to the 15th, good stuff!

jumped the gun

Ok so my sail and mast are here. Sail numbers never made it and nor did my cams!! BOLLOCKS. So looks like i will not get use my mast till i get to the UK just as well i am going early so i can at least get used to it. I will have a few runs with the new sail on a few of the cooler days to see what she is like.

Bit of stress on at the moment for me. At work and with the house move as well as trying to organise all my tools and boat stuff to get my boat outta here next week. jesus. Shipping my mast and boat is a pain, i wish cst could have a two piece mast option. Going to the worlds really is starting to cost me a lot of money. If Japan get the next ones i might have to swerve on it, the states i can get a sponsor for i would say. Nice breeze again today, will go out this afternoon, on the X8 and not the MLS 13.

Not long now......... no word from Bora in ages, you still alive boy?

no title

My mast is here, its sexy! My new sail is here too and my cams. Now i just have to make some packers for my boom! Anyone got a fix? As usual asking for help through my blog. HA!

No sailing allowed today, the police have shut the harbour for something. i might go and put my sail numbers on, but i think that would be way to organised of me, i think i need to be known as the sailor with the worst sail numbers ever.

So i have lots of hitchhikers getting a ride in my car from the airport to Weymouth. Car rent will be 4 pound a mile EACH, and i do not pay for petrol. Just to scare u a bit more, i have only ever driven on the wrong side of the road twice in my life before, once when i was 17 and once when i was back in the Uk in January....... it cannot be that hard to remember.

That new FX looks cool, Rohan reckons its the same speed but i would suggest a door would be the same speed if you put hydrofoils on it and him in the boat. I am going to be feeling like suicide if i get beaten by it at the worlds. Good times, good wind but forced lay day. Damn police.

Planning planning Plan Plan

Much planning is occurring!! Sailed this arvo in amazing 16 knots, awesome. Not too hot, fantastic steady breeze and not a soul on the water other than me. Took a couple of turns of lift off and did not like it, just not happy with the set up so i changed back very quickly indeed. planning things while i am in the Uk like other boats to sail in Cowes and RTI. Looks like it should be a fun couple of days as far as i can tell.

Team aqua went well in the RC event, finishing 2nd to Spithill. Not looking to rosy for the extreme 40 though.

Sultan finished 4th in the dhow race bagging 350,000. He was in 2nd place for 54 miles and lost two places on the finish line, retard. Two places being the difference of a cool couple of million Dhs. Now i am on red hot mission to convince him to buy a cst mast that i am sure will have him win by miles next season. If he sends the sample we are in business. Easier said than done.

If any of you moth chaps are passing through, please come and have a look at the dhows with me and give me some more ideas to make them go faster. I warn you, they do not like change and anything radical they cannot grasp how it works on a boat. They still use three braid for the halyards and have a wooden axle for the mast head pulley.

I suggested making any cosmetic stuff carbon but they said carbon was ugly. Ok, more stuff to do tomorrow, im in the middle of moving house, nightmare, sweaty. Yuk.

Boiling Point

Well not quite but it was 47 degrees yesterday and 45 today! Was really warm on the water yesterday. I did make a new axle for Glenn and I which work pretty well withe the new wands. Ill stick to that set up for a couple of days at least to see if i like it. I have sorted out my issues with losing grip on starboard too, which was beginning to worry me a bit!

We foiled around in marginal stuff on friday and Glenn was getting the hang of foiling tacks as his set up allows his to do them now. The sailing club ball was okay although i got asked to coach the 29er boys before they go to the youth worlds,i said no as i was sailing mt moth pretty much everyday until my boat leaves. They seemed to think that coaching their kids was more important than me going moth sailing, sorely mistaken!! Sorely mistaken. So was up and about today waiting for the breeze to come in, it tried and tried and tried to fill in, tempting me to leave the beach twice for an hour each time but it was not to be. Did about 15 minutes low riding race practice with Glenn then overheated in the fickle stuff and came in. While in the shower just now i was doing some mental visualizations of body movements for tacking and gybing. Learning to gybe is one thing and it becomes automatic sooner than the tacking part does. I am at the stage with tacking as i was with gybing at the Dubai event in March where i forget one thing or another when i try to tack. When it all comes together its ace, generally about 75% of the time, just gotta stamp out those small mistakes and mistimes on a few of them. I HOPE i can do it when under pressure and i have to pull one, only time will tell.

Bit of a lack of chat on the moth blogs right now by the looks of things, i guess everyone is busy with 11th hour tune ups and speed finding missions. no doubt the blogsphere will go crazy in the lead up to Weymouth. 14 days till my boat leaves for the Uk and 24 days till i fly. Ale has generously said we can borrow his boat for the time when our boats are in transit so at least we will be bale to keep sharp in the off time for everyone else. Need to do a bit of boat work for him to get his boat running after the shocker of a dagger board that was sent over for him. I got some millionaires tape finally (desert supply problems as usual) so am looking forward to sticking things together.................................. by the way, the best chopping board for wand axles can be found in park n shop which is 5 minutes walk from my house! I made another new extreme one that i will try but do not think its going to work unfortunately.

Sailing everyday must be helping me. It is so hard to see any difference in your sailing until you sail against other people though, getting itchy feet to see where i am at now. Been chasing the guys over here about the worlds bid, i think its not going to happen though i'm sad to say, would like to see a moth worlds here, maybe another year when we prove to them that the Dubai moth boys are quick afterall. They seem to doubt us....... no idea why.

Add on; the big dhow race was today. I was not 50 miles offshore at 6 30 am on a saturday, i was in bed. The finished around 2. Dunno how Sultan did, still no phone call, i guess the 10 million winning pot is not in his wallet if that is the case. Or maybe, he is scared of what i think my cut should be. When they got in the harbour was full on plastic water bottles and diesel and general dhow rubbish. 160 boats entered, they each had two support boats, thats a lot of rubbish that is going to wash up on the beach tomorrow, so much for blue communities cleaning up dubai's coast line. Ill settle for them sponsoring the Dubai team in the bladerider GP and ill pick up half the bottles for free anyway. Glenn can get the other half aiiii boiiii??? ;). Better idea, ill take my oppie kids down there and ill buy the megaphone!!!!!!!

Sleeeeeep

I left work a bit early yesterday and got home about ten past five. I fell asleep about half past and woke up at 8 this morning. I feel 110% better for it too although i cannot remember a day i have ever slept that long.

Not much breeze today so do not think sailing is on the cards but you never know. I found the ultimate Matika drill set in the back of my van just now. That is going in my boat box defo. Last day of the week today, its a bit slow but still busy enough to keep me occupied. I have been all alone in my office for the last three days, not sure why. I am in process of making a new axle, i was trying to explain what i was trying to achieve to Bora but he did not really understand. I cannot work out which way i want to make the change, i suppose ill just make two and see what happens. Hmmm, its cunning but maybe too cunning and might not work at all. My bro skyped me and i might have a ride on the biggest entry in round the Island, the last of the maxi's without canting keel. The good thing about being on board is that we will be fastest round and first to the bar. If the forecast is not much wind then ill do it, should be in Cowes by midday if the tides are right and we do not get stuck up in the needles. If not, i will just drive up and get the red jet across and go meet the boys for the evening. Its the sailing club ball on friday night, suited and booted and time to tell people what you really think of them. Did any of you lot ever do that when you were at school at the final social? Get totally hammered and tell the teachers what you really thought of them......... hope i do not bump into my old PE teacher any time soon, im sure she still hates me.

Well anyway, i will take it easy at the ball as the forecast is good for saturday as 45 degrees and hangover are the worst combination to a worthwhile day on the water. Roll on the weekend. Does anyone think that the fella Doug Lord from SA will do his own form guide? Im sure he will predict Rohan to win even if he is not sailing.

The i shares cup starts tomorrow with a lot of familiar faces and mothies included. Firstly Chris Bakes RC 44 team Aqua have got their boat up and going and im sure will do well when Cam figures the boat out (wont take long).

Herbie from tornado sport is a bladerider owner, or at least he was and is the volvo entry. Jonnie Hutchcroft is sailing in there somewhere i think..... maybe....... and is a new veliciraptor owner or soon to be. Also i see there is a team from Oman, there is a LOT of stuff happening in Oman with the boats they have bought. I have been sworn to secrecy but they have acquired a rather large triamaran and have a lot of things planned in the next year or so. Not so sure how they would do in this thing with an all Omani crew on board after their performances in the Dubai Muscat races. They have a gas assisted stove thing in the middle of the boat with the gas bottle right next to it in the last race...................... perhaps thats why are they are all learning how to sail at UKSA. On a positive note, they are promoting sailing in the Gulf, maybe i should get down there and sell them some bladeriders and show them how to sail them (not that i'm any good in a moth), i could invite a few people over though that are good and they could show them how to sail moths! Possible sponsor for the world bladerider grand prix??? I'm sure the old sultan of Oman has some dollar and some wasta!

Bad language

I have been swearing a fair bit in my posts of late. I shall stop. Had a sail yesterday, breeze was ok but was shift and very gusty. With the gusts came some big shifts, trying to set up a tack in a gust as the breeze is bending is quite hard i have found out. Im happy with my set up but i need to make my wand tip slightly more flexible i think.

Had good speed in most directions and i seem to have sorted out my upwind height problems on starboard completely now. Just paid for my car from heathrow, which cost me and arm and a leg, at least i dont have to use British public transport.

My new mast lands in the country today, no idea how i am going to get it to the UK though, bugger. I will figure it out. I was going to take yesterday off from sailing but i didn't so i think today is going to be off. Its so draining being on the water and i cannot concentrate today on anything. I drank about 6 pints of water when i came in and was still struggling. hmmm...... Not much else to report.

Toodle Pop.

Failure

Last night i had a chat to a PT trainer that i know and he said i was over training. I Do not like that word, over training.

I gym it three to four times a week usually, if not gym i go running and cycling. This is not just cause the moth worlds are on, its normal and i always have since i was 18. So these extra sessions really have put a spanner in my works. I decided to can them and just stick with what i have got. I know that they guys that are going to the thing will be thinking, i can't believe Chris does not want to sail on an Rc44 but the reality of it is that i am going to the moth worlds and not the Rc44 worlds. Also, i do not have time to take 10 days a month for six months off work to fly around and go sailing. I would love to, but he would have to pay me 1000 dollars a day like the top pro's so i can make a living. if they do that then im in.

Also, until i actually see an RC 44 here in Dubai in the near future to train on i really do not see what the point of going through all the shit yards in the gym are? Currently the Rc 44 fleet is heading to the BVI's for the final leg this year in December and then going straight to key West for the opening event in 2009, they are not due back here till the end of 2009. It seems a TAD premature to get the training going so early....... we are not going to Mars. Another thing........ the guys that are going to the gym for this thing all smoke 40 a day and drink 10 pints a night, i will let them catch up on the fitness front before i get involved. This is all pretty arrogant on my part but i am trying to make a point to the guys that are in charge of these idea's to further sailing in this country. GET ALL YOUR SHIT IN ONE PROVERBIAL SOCK and then come and show me the money.

I am supposed to be 50 miles offshore this weekend as well as it is the richest sailing race in the world on saturday morning. The 60 footer dhows are racing for 10 million dhs prize money, thats in the region of 1.4 million Pounds. We have done some development with Sultan, put a moveable bow sprit on there, some real rigging, some mast track and some other stuff so we hope he goes well and doe not break anything. I think i am going to miss that too though and go mothing instead. I do not like the idea of sitting on some boat with no AC for two days floating around watching Dhows sail in a straight line. You should see the start line, its chaos. They all drop an anchor and tie up, all these anchors have marks on them and there are about 4 rows of boats. Earliest riser gets the best place on the start line. When the gun goes, they untie from the anchor and leave it floating in the water while the put there sails up and go sideways a bit. 1/3 of the fleet drift into other boats anchor lines and have to cut them free anyway. Then they go on a beam reach for 55 miles to the finish line. The end! YAWN.

Glenn and I went sailing yesterday, he went out on my boat when i came in as he was late out of work. He had the better of the breeze and pulled his first two fully foiling tacks, he called me and said he was wooopping away while sailing. Good stuff, he is coming into form at the right time.

Also check out team Russia in my links. The new boat is radical........... Come on team Russia.

Pork Pies

A Pork pie in Dubai costs 3 pound! That is massively expensive if you ask me.

Went sailing with Glenn yesterday afternoon, he has his set up sorted now too, finally he is flying high and went well. It was gacking weather yesterday, i think when you are foiling tacking and you have less wind speed that it takes to launch on the foils its impossible to foil tack. Did some practice gacks. they were ok, good speed again, nice set up and happy with more hours on the water.

Going sailing again today. I am going to this gym session in the morning, i did not make it on sunday due to laziness and a long weekend in the sun. Im feeling like i cannot be bothered with anything right now, was thinking what the point of going to the worlds is. Someone send me some motivation and good vibes over to the desert please. Its sooo hot training is becoming really hard, i was out yesterday only in wet shorts and thats it. I am looking forward to being in Weymouth where its cooler and i have nothing else to do other than wake up and go sailing. Heaven almost no? I just went to my blog and read my motivational headline, i feel better.

Is the weekend really gone?

Climbing the cave overhang last week.

Its Saturday night here, which means i gotta work tomorrow morning. I have just picked up my emails and have got an email telling me that my sailing fitness program starts tomorrow for the Dubai RC 44 boat?????????????????

Now if i am not mistaken, they asked me to steer the fucking thing a while back but then decided not to bother actually telling me anything about the program at all whatsoever. So i got ze hump and left it at that. I got a call from the boys in the know on Thursday telling my training sessions will be starting on Sunday, tomorrow at 7am at Dubai International marine Club sports center. I have been doing all my own fitness anyway as you all know so do not really want to get up at 6 am to get to the gym......... I do not even have any idea what the plan of this fitness is as they are currently paying the professionals to sail the Dubai RC44 boat, who if you want to know, are doing totally crap as their driver cannot drive downwind. They need new sails too by the way, and possibly get some tuning tips from old Mr Coutts?? Possibly maybe??? So shall i go or shall i stay in bed?? Answers please to my blog.

I went sailing today, it has taken me three days to get my set up back to where it was before i broke everything. It seems to take me a while to get it all correct again. I do have measurements but it just did not work for me for some reason. Anyway, by the afternoon today i had it going again, the police came out and told me the entire sea was shut for the dhow race.......... the entire sea??? how can you shut the entire seas prey tell Mr Police. I gave him the, you aint no POOOOLICE wave as i foiled past him and past the front of all the dhows too. they were sailing in MY patch, not the other way round. I even got a wave from the prince in his 160 footer. HA!

I have had a few frustrations today if you did not already notice. here is another one...... when i got back to the beach and was washing down, some laser sailor had the entire wash area to use but no, he put his boat down with his boom still attached and was swinging away, as he put it down i was in process of taking off my forestay and got a boom to the face. WTF!!! Why can't all sailing clubs in the world make it mandatory for beginners to have a talk from their instructors which goes like this 'right dickheads (learners), there are some pretty fucking expensive boats around here, you will be learning in the equivalent of a pad Mini or whatever crap car you have in your country and some of these boats are like Ferrari's. Just like in the real world when the Ferrari owner is going to be pissed off if you drive into his car in a parking lot, said expensive boat owner is also going to be pissed off when you drive your boat into his in the parking lot. please for your health do not do this and have some care, otherwise as our club policy states, the boat owner that you have driven your boat into gets a free hit at your car with a sledgehammer.'
If they then do not sign the bit of paper, they can all go and learn to play Golf.

The club AGM is this month, i might try and get on the committee, i think i would do a fabulous job. Ban anything that goes slower that a 29er. if it does go slower than a 29er, it can only be RS sailboats, no Lasers! Oppies are allowed and all oppie kids must have a sail in a moth at least one a month to continue in the sailing squad. So how is my sailing going some of you might ask, well don't. Its shit and i am slow.

What shall i call this post

Did a lot of boat work yesterday. Got out for a bit in the dying afternoon breeze. Hope it is better today. Boat work complete.

picture is of camp moth Dubai. We had all our tools out yesterday. Put another new axle on with loads less play, should be good i think. Cannot wait for my mls 13 to arrive and my new mast.

Rough Rider

It was windy as yesterday. It was a steady 20 gusting mid 20's easy. i thought id go out and see where my set up limits were. First few laps were good, only one or two capsizes, i was very very high on my foils and it was basically hang on weather. I was hanging on good until my vang went Kaboom, downwind, this sent me upwards very quick swiftly followed by downwards even faster. What a wipeout, definitely my best and i was very proud of it.

The only down side to going up and then down so fast was that my push rod could not cope, it bit the dust so i had to return to the beach on a broad reach sitting on my back wing bar pretty much. Probably a good thing not to really stay out too long as i could have snapped something major, but is always good to get out in those conditions and see where you really are at. I was fairly happy but still not overly confident in my ability to be honest. Defo needs to swap back to a windy set up before that in future, i was totally on the edge.

picked up my new rope from Gareth this morning to make my new vang and another new mainsheet. Also got my ropes to change my downhaul as well. Good breeze again today but i have to fix my push rod and make the vang, also i have meeting at 4 pm so it looks like i will not be getting out on the water. never mind.

Two weeks left until i ship my boat to Weymouth, then i am ten days without it until i fly. It really is not long at all until the worlds now. Watched the football match last night, what a waste of time! Hope this wind stay in for tomorrow as well but i think that is too much to hope for.
I was wondering, do the Aussie mothies really not like the British mothies, do the brits really not like the Aussie's? Or is it all just a game, i cannot work it out.

Brothers

I have just finished reading band of brothers by Stephen E Ambrose and decided to watch the mini series by Stephen Spielberg and Tom Hanks. I cannot imagine having to go to war when i was 21, even now i feel to young to have to go and do anything in a war. The States make a lot of things where they try to have the last say as a hero but this is the only thing that has come out of America that really is moving.

If you have not watched or read the book of Band of Brothers i highly recommend it.

That is my down time at the moment, reading a book called next by Michael Crichton now, it seems ok. I went sailing yesterday afternoon, tried some new stuff with my wand but it did not work, i was jumping up to altitude as it were in stages, which was not good for top speed. I think that might have something to do with not having the correct AoA as i did not wack it hard enough with the mallet the first time to get it on properly. I will change my wand back to in the middle between my last nice setup and my radical one from yesterday, i think that might just work. Still enjoyed my sail and John came out for a practice later on, he pulled a few foiling gybes so he is getting there now. Sorted out my starboard issues, won't bore you with the details but its all where it should be again. My mast is creaking a lot against my mast stump, its really annoying, anyone out there got a fix? I cant think of anything that would work!!!

I have just been reading the Transat reports and that Vincent Riou has abandoned ship only to be picked up by Loick Peyron. Id love to give solo racing a go, and have always wanted to do a mini transat with a two boat campaign. I think it would be awesome. Loick had a go on my boat back in February while he was here so i hope he wins the transat cause he is one of the nicest people that i have met in sailing, other than Oleg. I also hope Loick wins the vendee and will be surprised if he has gear failure after describing why he has not gone radical with his boat.

I shall in the meantime go moth sailing this afternoon until i get my mini transat funding together........................... anyone wanna chuck some dosh my way?

Wind

There is bit of chat going on about the breeze in Weymouth. Now i have sailed in the UK a bit and it is always a much stronger (more pressure) behind it than i get out here. People are saying not to loose as much weight as expected, i am hovering around the 68/69/70 kg mark and can change quite easily between those numbers depending on if i go for a run or eat a lot.

I would rather be competitive on the one day that it is marginal in the regatta and let my boat handling make up, or possibly let me down for the rest of the regatta. I am not going to go silly with the weight loss, i will stay as is and just concentrate more on my sailing than anything else.

Other news, my bro called me this morning and asked if i want to sail the Omra 60 160 km down the coast to Abu Dhabi tomorrow afternoon. I dunno if i wanna go as id prefer to be in the moth if its breeze on. I would like a go on the 60 footer but i dont want to just sit there and have such French dude who has lost his marbles shout at me or scream about nothing. I will take more opportunities after the summer i think. I am umming and arring about doing the round the island race on the 28th in the UK. I have a couple of rides lined up but they are little boring looking so i might just carry on sailing the moth in Weymouth. I want a couple of weeks with my new mast and sail just to see what the ins and outs are. Also, tune up with Bora is always a good way to spend the pre regatta days i reckon. Actually, he can tune up with me ;). So my main foil is fixed and looking good, lots of movement in the flap now, will test this afternoon and see how it holds up. Big run last night, still a bit tired. i think its actually the hot weather that does it to me.

The AC has packed in at work, its so fucking hot in my office that the only thing to do to offset the carbon footprint of the repair truck coming here is to go sailing. I know its only 3 pm but.. there is no ac. This is not working conducive. I shall have to cool off in the breeze outside. Wish me luck!

Did i say i went sailing?

Sailing again yesterday. I learnt a lot. I had to use John's foil (thanks bud) as mine is still being fixed, i was not happy with the repair so am re-doing it again. Jigs are made, just need to sand it back and sort it out.

John has less angle of attack on his boat, i could fly much much earlier with that set up, Glenn could hardly get off the water but i was still powered up. I am seriously thinking about going back to that set up in the light breeze. One problem with it being its harder to tack. Its almost easier to Gack with the smaller amount of lift. Anyways, just a thought, it was good to see how far my set up has come since march at the Dubai event as Rohan set all our foils up the same (i think).

Breeze on today, but i really need to fix my foil so i might have a forced lay day. Thats ok though, 23 knots forecast tomorrow and 25 on wed with 22 on Thursday! Happy Days! Went climbing last night and pulled a muscle in my right arm while stretching for a hold while lead climbing. Am sore but its not the end of the world.

Smile!

68 Kgs and Counting! Note the patriotic UAE flag behind me!

Bugger

Bloody moth's always breaking. I went out for about an hour and a half and practiced on starboard going upwind, had to go out into the chop as there was a jet ski race going on in the lagoon. I always thought jetski's are more fun in waves but whatever.

Anyway, was still not going well at all on starboard, it was really getting to me and i was shouting at my boat. Yes i was!! I had a little breath and thought what a dick i was being. Still some issues but i will have it sorted! As i turned the corner at the top of beat which was about 3 or 4 miles long my main foil started singing to me. More like buzzing actually. Then more buzzing, then an inability to have any negative lift. The last two days have seen me swim LOT, lucky i sewed the 100 meter badge onto my rash top huh.

Got back to the beach finally and found the starboard side of my main foil connection had disintegrated. I dug it all out and have done the repair now, i do not have a jig, only the jig templates that Glenn was in charge of getting made, but he decided to use them as golf clubs or something on his corporate golf round as they are still not around!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have fashioned my own repair using a lot of detail tape, skia, my bro and Alex, and mother giving us directions. My mum is scared of going swimming in a swimming pool for gods sake and she was telling my i was doing my repair wrong!! Thanks mum! Its all good but i will see if it is in the correct place, i think it is, well it is as good as it is going to be. I shall take it to Premier tomorrow and see if they can do any better or come up with a cool solution!

Finally home, another long day, i think my sailing stats are actually better than Bora's right now, 14 days in 17, amazing breeze all day today, i was just disappointed that i lost most of it to my flap. Good news though sports fans!! Five fully foiling tacks in a row today (in swell as well). Time to do the cosmetics now. Also, almost coming up to six months of owning my bladerider! November feels a long way away now when Rohan was here and i had a hole in my first boat. November 24th was the first time i took my own bladerider out, missed most of January being back in the UK seeing sick grandad so i am absolutely delighted to have made a form guide after only five complete months of sailing the boat. I have learnt so much is such a short pace of time i think all the experimenting is getting to me a little and i should take a step away and look from the outside in. I have been through a lot of gear learning how to sail these things, am pissed off my flap has given up. I just hope it does not make too much of a difference over the next few weeks. I am rambling now!! OUT!

Inch or a Mile

I sailed today. In the morning Glenn and I made new axles although i did not fit mine as i was trying my little experiment. Safe to say it failed and i am not any faster. never mind. I spent the first hour of the sail today totally upside down, i would say about 25 capsizes in 40 minutes. It was about 16/17/18 knots and choppy out the back. All i managed to line up against Glenn was 10 minutes upwind. Was faster on port by miles but we were same pace on starboard. His boat handling let him down though.

When we turned the corner it all went wrong for me, i had major magic wand issues and had to sail in unconnected. Glen had to pack up to go to a wedding so i was left alone. I went out and did two races against the cats. Was good, sorted my shit out but sailing in chop with a flat water set up is almost impossible. I was bouncing all over the place with my wand set up as it is. Anyway, 2 hours later......... i went into the flat stuff and it was perrrrrfect. Set up is not changing for the flat water, it amazes me how you forget about waves when sailing in the flat stuff. I sailed in the waves like it was flat and was terrible, no thinking of consequences and no focus in the mind. Back in the lagoon i was away, tacking was ace, gybing was usual.... good shit, was high. Had two beers so this is more all over the place than normal. Sorry, my blog, live with it. Its all getting a bit nasty online by the looks of things. Why can't sailing people be complementary about other sailors even if we are all going to the same championships?? Do we not partake in a Corinthian sport? If i posted a video of me sailing sick i would expect to be congratulated, not taken through the gutters. Thick skin and all that!

Sailing again tomorrow, will be out when the wind blows. I will change my axle and practice my upwind boat speed only, especially on starboard if anyone is interested. I might even make a video of it and post me going in a straight line!

good morning Dubai

Sailed again yesterday, had two hours out there. So thats 11 days sailing out the last 14 days. I lost two to no wind and one to having to do things. I will sail again today, friday , saturday and then next week is forecast 19 knots every day!

Will find time tomorrow morning to build my new axle and find some teflon tape. I think i am going to bite the bullet and get a new mast too.

Recovery

As planned i took a day off the water. I thought about going to the gym but even gave that a swerve so all is well and everything i needed to get done i did, including buying a thicker teflon chopping board to build a new axle as i do not like my current one.

i even shaved my head for good measure, well actually i didn't, i got butchered by the hairdresser. Bora you ever heard of a hair dresser? Couldn't resist, couldn't resist.

Simon is so keen on my moth he has just gone out and bought a top notch video camera that downloads direct onto youtube with some super duper editing thing, he can edit, i suck at technology. He wants to make a video next weekend! I just got a call from Puma who have launched their new sailing line over here so i am going to go and check that out today. Thats the beauty of working in the marine business, i can mix it with pleasure! I did get hold of their marketing manager a while ago when the V70 was announced to see if they wanted to put money into the local sailing fleet and got told to get fucked!! I think its the same lady too.

Breeze has turned early today with the sea breeze as it is about a million degree's. Will go out this afternoon and try some more stuff! I have an experiment to try on the weekend which could make or break my boat speed. We shall see, we shall see. Reading Scott's blog, he has put me on some form list thing, i am not going to write one of them cause i do not know who anyone is apart from Bora and id put him down as coming behind me if i was writing one... just to piss him off and after the Dubai event that was my goal anyway, to beat him or be very close to him at the worlds. He knows that, we have been geeing each other up none stop! And we are staying in the same house so house rivalry is always a good thing.

When i'm a bit more established as a moth sailor i will do one i suppose. Glenn will go well to when we get his boat sorted.

Melting Wax

Its hot enough here now that the wax i have on my slippery white deck melts in the midday sun. So for the next month i am going to have a very slippery boat. This is a blessing in disguise as it has given me the idea to wax mark the area that i need to put my foot to keep the nose out during a foiling tack. i was thinking about using a permanent marker but that would be slightly ugly and a giveaway.

So i will experiment next time i am sailing and put some marks down in the correct place, i find it is a fairly exact foot placement anyway to get the tack away nicely. I also found where my boat has been leaking from, every time i come in recently i have a cup full of water in the bow. Not enough to worry about but it annoys me.

Had a lot of sailing recently and not much time to do anything else, i might take a day off today to sort my life out in general, washing clothes, eating, sleeping, emailing, er..... finish buying my house fingers crossed. Eating is def top of my agenda, i am feeling a little weak after loosing so much weight so need to balance everything up again for a couple of weeks, maybe put another kg on or so. Just as well i have 3/4 of a degree in physio i suppose, at least i know what the ins and outs of nutrition are and all the rest of it. We had some pics taken on the weekend and have an interview in the sports extra news paper out here.

Where i sail at the moment is not where we had the Dubai event. I sail next to palm island, which has a lagoon area for flat water practice and can go out the top of the palm for some fun and more breeze when we want it. This is also where next years event will be, earmarked for November at the moment with a fair bit o prize money......... don't hold your breath. Anyway, on a friday all the power boats anchor in the lagoon and lots of people have been asking about our boats and everyone knows about the white boat that flys around at crazy speeds to quote an email i got today. So with the newspaper piece, we might get a sponsor and some more boats on the water. We need a way to transfer the 'oh shit look at that boat' looks from the chicks in bikini's so they know who we are in Dubai's most popular bar afterward. I might get a tshirt made saying 'I was sailing that crazy boat today, buy me a drink'. Whatdya reckon?

BORO

BORO 8 Man City 1!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What is going on in the world.

I Hvae dcieedd ot witre my psot bckarswads tdaoy to porve taht i do not need to be albe to sepel for you to be albe to raed waht i am wirtnig.

deos taht mkae snese?

Went sailing again today, i got out about 4.30 in 15 knots or so, which died rapidly to nothing. I had to get a tow in from one of the tenders from a big boat. Bit annoying but i flew and got some practice in. Did some boat work when i got in. Thats about it, going for a run now.

Spending Spree

I have been buying things again! Wind on today so going to sail after work as the ATM took up all of my time last week and i worked both mornings of my weekend. Simon is bugging me for another go on ze boat and to make some more video. We will see sometime this week.

Climbing is booked tonight but i might have to pass on that depending how long I sail for today! I'm keen for sailing again this week. I have just found a tiny blood blister on the top of my hand. How interesting is that! Unless you did not realise, i have nothing at all to say today! My brother dissed my blog the other day and called me Dyslexic, i must be because i cannot spell dyslexic without a spell checker. Well at least my arms do not pass below my knees when i walk!! Let the shimmy contest begin!

Well i sailed in the afternoon, extended the wand length again, it was light breeze and i found that although when up it flew way higher, it was harder to get to max altitude because of flap down and stalling, i need find a happy medium in there somewhere. Maybe switch back down a wand in the marginal stuff....... Did i say that I sailed fast downwind?? More practice by myself so nobody actually knows if i am telling the truth here or not, just the way i like it!