Bristol Moth Flying Squadron

I got a brief sail in yesterday, but called it off short after a nice line squall came in along with 30 knots. I did learn that you can make a Moth go sideways upwind while airborne in the bigger gusts when the flow around the daggerboard breaks down. I thought my foil had broken as it was so sudden!Anyway, The Tide Ride at Hayling Island is this weekend - the entry list is looking good for the Moths first year at the event but the wind is looking like its going to be a bit too full on for good...

I got down to Hayling on Sunday for a bit of time sailing somewhere that doesn't involve forests of weed growing up from the bottom of the lake and it proved to be well worth it.Axebridge is normally mostly empty of water at this time of year as it is a reservoir for Bristol Water Co, so I dont usually have to worry about the weed as theres not enough water to sail anyway. Yet I keep trying. Hopefully as the weather is starting to cool off now these underwater trees should start dying off and...

Wednesday afternoons are still rolling on as the windsurfers at BCYC want to sail even if there is no racing. This means I can have most of the lake to myself and get some practice in.After a few hours pimping Alan Watson's Prowler with a new wand and ratio changes along with a bit of foil angle changes I managed to get out in the Squirrel for a quick spin. The weed at the club means I have to take my sailing in short bursts as the frustration sets in (Hence the Hayling trip on Sunday). The...

Back at the Moth worlds, while sitting in a caravan in the rain with the wind blowing its usual nuts off, a plan was formed.Norfolk resident Andrew Friend had a cunning plan - it involved going to Norfolk and sailing on a funny bit of water, launching in a canal and sailing to a raft in the middle of said piece of water, where tea and cake are consumed, races are done - entered just before at £1.50 a time if you fancy it. Having just spent over £200 for a handful of races over a couple of...

While I hate doing the shameless advertising thing on this site, I thought I would post this here..Foils for homebuildsI've made a few sets of foils for people doing their own thing and this should be encouraged. I'm also going to try and do a technical breakdown of how linkages and various bits all work on the current boats - its amazing how far these things have come in just a few years and the older converted boats can be made into different beasts with a bit of tinkering...

Not much going on at the moment - everyone seems to be taking a bit of time out to do things other than sailing! And who can blame them, the weather over here is still shocking with torrential downpours and large amounts of wind coming through.Tim Laws (new owner of Jamming with Edward) and Myself made our way down to Falmouth last weekend for a couple of days worth of Falmouth week to check the venue out. Got down there pretty late on the Sunday missing the racing, although it was pretty damn...