Episode #10 of Mothcast is up. Recorded during a blackout, we discuss Luka’s job at CST, sailing mid week, GPS peak speeds and the the foily 9er.
Dowload the show for iPod (AAC)
This episode is sponsored by Ful-vue.
Original post by Bruce and software by Elliott Back
Episode #10 of Mothcast is up. Recorded during a blackout, we discuss Luka’s job at CST, sailing mid week, GPS peak speeds and the the foily 9er.
Dowload the show for iPod (AAC)
This episode is sponsored by Ful-vue.
Original post by Bruce and software by Elliott Back
There has been a little rain back home in Grafton and the river has risen just a little bit (7.4 M) . Here are some photos of the Clarence River Sailing Club rigging area (one of the best in Australia) before …
And as it was on Saturday morning. As you can see you would have a bit of trouble sailing under the bridge as they do every week back home. The roof you can see is the control tower of the Club which is three stories high.
Original post by Bruce and software by Elliott Back
In email on the UK group, I noticed a little comment from Mike Lennon.
My insurer wants to double my premium due to all the foil claims over the past few months to £580 ! Any suggestions?
So I have a question, how many foils have been claimed ? I only know of one person who has claimed a replacement foil on insurance.
Original post by Bruce and software by Elliott Back
Ever wondered what I get up to when I am not going on about moths. Well the presentation that I did at Microsoft a few weeks ago (alongside Devtest CEO Sarah Richey) is now up on microsoft.com
http://www.microsoft.com/australia/services/microsoftservices/sdc_openday.mspx
For my presentation you need to open the “How we do: Testing” video and I am in the last half following Sarah.
Original post by Bruce and software by Elliott Back
So today’s conditions for the last race of the season looked to be a perfect 20 knot westerly on dead flat water with a windward leeward course straight up the river.
Putting the foils in I noticed that my rudder flap was right down, no worries, a few twists and … it was exactly in the same place. The push-rod, which is an original plastic one had broken. Game over. At least I wasn’t wet yet …
So that marks the end of the 08-09 season at St. George, and onto the winter hiatus for a few months.
As always there is a list of boat work to be done, and re-painting the hull will be back on the agenda again. The paint on the hull has turned out to be way too soft, and combined with a thrown together at the last minute cradle has resulted in the boat looking like a complete heap again. At least this time around, I know the paint will be easy to remove … 
Original post by Bruce and software by Elliott Back
I have always liked Scott’s moths. His ropes are always über neat with as few knots as possible. And Scott being the kind, caring guy that he is likes to share them via sailingbits.com.
We’ll whilst on hiatus last week I was determined to teach myself how to splice. So after work today I got myself a set of fids and set about re-doing my vang and my wing support rope knot-free and here are the results.
> 
Whilst not perfect, I am happy with my first attempt. The vang is even using the same 2 year old ropes just re-done.
Original post by Bruce and software by Elliott Back
With the drift-off that is also known as the NSW states but a distant memory, I have skipped out of town for a week. Does this mean that boat stuff has stopped … well no.
On Tuesday I caught up with Andrew Landenberger, and checked out his new house / loft on the River, and got inspired with a few new ideas to try when I get back home …
The other thing that amazes me in Grafton is how easy it is to get access to some really great machinery. There almost seems to be a secret society of retired gentlemen who have fully decked out workshops in their basements. (Almost every house in Grafton proper was raised out of flood in the 1930’s so they have a whole “workshop floor” below the house.)
I am not just talking hobby equipment either, I am talking full scale, ex-industrial metal work lathes that some of these guys served their apprenticeships on capable of making parts for powerstations. And they know how to use them.
So I spent an hour or so with Dad watching a lathe bring some new custom parts to life, designing on the fly as we went. Then, once finished it was back to another full scale workshop in Dad’s basement for the finishing touches.
Now I just need to fit them on the boat and learn how to use them before next season.
If only we had a club which included a bunch of mad moth scientists … oh wait … we do.
On a side note my laptop is currently back at the manufacturer being reparired, and Mothcast is currently on hiatus as well until it comes back.
Original post by Bruce and software by Elliott Back
Luka hosting an autograph signing (aka a flying ant briefing) session at St. George a couple of weeks ago.
Original post by Bruce and software by Elliott Back
So I got my latest main foil back together in time for today’s race. I spent a lot of time faring it and making it smooth, but there is still a few things to do before I undercoat it this week.
So on the boat the foil is soooooooo much slipperier (is that a real word ?) than the old square one and you can just feel the boat wanting to go.
However the boat wasn’t quite right. The boat would take off, then level out, then rise again. The wand would flick off, the boat would keep rising and then get all floatey before stalling out and coming back down. At the top mark I stopped to have a look, and noticed that my pushrod had decided to pull out of the flap, so I had lots of flap down but no lap up.
I disconnected everything, and proceeded to low ride back to the club. I have already fixed the problem, and I am ready to head out mid week, and join Phil and Dave (shown during last week deep in a foil setuo conference).
Original post by Bruce and software by Elliott Back
