Tassie fleet on the grow

Hotblack Desiato now has a new owner, so please ignore the previous post.

With my new boat a bit over a month away, like any expecting moth...er, I've been starting to make some arrangements for the arrival of the new boat, the first of which was to go hunting for some insurance. The good thing is that one of the Hobart guys (Will) happens to be an insurance broker, which has made things very easy. Although I've got quotes for cheaper insurance, it's not by enough to make me not want to support someone who sails the boats and supports the class (and is a genuinely good bloke too... only person I've ever known to hand me the keys to his BMW and tell me to carefully go get lunch!).

The next trick will be to sort out a membership at Royals down in Hobart so I can store the boat in the shed there... got to be the most convenient place to store a moth I've ever seen... it's a fairly tall shed, so you can leave the rig assembled and laying against a wall inside the shed, plus there's a fair bit of spare room for some more boats... well, there would be if the Sharpies were slightly better organised!

It's also been brought to my attention that there'll be at least 1 other Assassin coming to Tassie (via Spain of all places) around November in the very capable hands of Mal Parker (Farr 40 pro sailor, ex America's Cup and reformed Laser sailor). This can only be a good thing... it means Rob will have someone local to push him a bit harder, and Assassin will have a rockstar sailor to help show how quick the boats really are. With another 2 other potential assassin buyers, the Hobart fleet could be up to 6 or more boats by nationals time; a great result. A couple more boats and it might be time for Tassie to reinvigourate IMCA-Tas and apply to hold nationals!

Hotblack Desiato

For Sale on Rob's (world's fastest non-blogging mothie) behalf:

• AUS 9306 - "Hotblack Desiato"
• Hungry Tiger with Stevo / Fastacraft foils and Spare Thorpe lowriding gear
• Ex-World Champion as a lowrider
• Thorpe / Truflow Rig
• Beach Trolley
• Great first foiler
• Selling to build the fleet - prefer buyer in Tasmania

Located RYCT Hobart

All offers considered - willing to do an extra good deal if the boat stays in Tassie.

CST 351 High Modulus Mast also available, $POA.

Contact me (jemonson (at) postoffice (dot) utas (dot) edu (dot) au) or Rob Gough (rob (at) tasmanianbakeries (dot) com (dot) au)

Assassinated

Greetings yet again mothies!

Well the official news is I am getting a new Assassin GRS from NZ for next season (which has to be about the worst kept secret in mothing at the moment), and just to start the ball rolling I've purchased a sail for it, the prototype North MH6 from Rohan. Used only once, when John Harris' BR VRX was launched a few months back, and at a considerable saving so I'm quite happy on that account.

On the fitness/uni side of things, OVD and thesis have kicked off for the year, with first submissions due in a couple of weeks. Just to be convenient, studies and fitness work has recently been interrupted by moving clear across town to a bigger, significantly cheaper house in West Launceston over the last week or so - and having a bout of the 'flu just to top things off has put pay to doing gym work for the last little while... will try to head in this arvo though just for a gentle session to get back into it.

There's been a few things going on around the mothisphere recently with Phil Stevo re-launching the ex-Karma Package Deal, now known as Karma in it's new and significantly cut down form, hopefully future sails will be more successful however as it failed to foil due to linkage teething problems. Congrats anyway Phil.

Also, Hobart local (and unofficial tas state champ as it was decided at nats) Rob Gough has clocked 28+ knots on his old BR X8, only to replace it with a new BR VRX in preparation for the Gorge worlds coming up. I just hope his new VRX is better than the one John Harris had at nats... only time will tell. I am certainly looking forward to some two-boat testing against him on the Assassin for next season though and will be quietly backing him for an easy top 10 finish in the big winds the Gorge is reknowned for and Rob's known to revel in.

Until next time,

Peace Out.

Emo

Not Another Moth Post

G'day mothies, mothettes and other various persons. I hear you all saying "Oh no, not another moth blog"... hence the name.

After selling Renegade to Tim Sampson from Brisbane, I've decided to shut down my old blog (Hepialidae) and move on with life a bit. I'll be back in moths on and off until such a time as I can no longer do it, but for the time being I can't really justify hanging on to a boat long term, with the Navy basically owning me for the next 5 years as of Feb 2010. The plan at the moment is to get another boat for the Perth nationals and to study up, train up and play the sailing rockstar game between now and then.

So, what does a mothie do between moths? Well... seems that a lot of us are really closet extreme sports enthusiasts, and really I'm not too different. So, I've decided a regiment of weights, running, rock climbing, swimming and a bit of cross country and downhill mountain biking should work OK for a training regiment. So, the plan (which is always open to change) is as follows:

1) Join a Gym. Done.

2) Get a good bike. Done. Managed to pick up a pretty sweet deal on an '08 KONA Shred Hardtail this morning, after taking a look around the local bike dealers and some 2nd hand sites and decided it's worth just going new(ish). Spent 2 hours breaking her in nice and gentle this arvo over at the Silverdome dirt tracks. :) Discovered one thing already though - Pedalbite's a bitch! :P

3) Go to the Gym at least 3 times a week after uni. Combination of Aerobic/Anaerobic work and some weights to improve core, leg and arm strength as well as general endurance.

4) Sail as often as uni and other work permits - next planned regatta is to borrow an NS14 and do the Tassie states at Port Dalrymple over the March long weekend. Try not to get tactically rusty. If I can pull a couple of good results between now and nationals, it's all a bonus. For the time being, it's all about fun over sheepstations.

5) Order a new moth. On this point, there's already things happening, but for now I'm keeping the plans under wraps. Will say one thing though - it's very exciting so far and I'm stoked to be involved in the project. The boat has been ordered and a deposit is being paid shortly, the ETA is mid/late August in time for some pre-season foil testing and training. Those who know me know a bit more about what's going on...

Well guys, until next time. Peace.

Emo