Happy Xmas

The 2nd day of Christmas and it's John Lennon's turn...

Hope all is well in the moth world.

Merry Christmas!

Judy Garland sings.

Merry Christmas!

Try-Foil weights

After MARKLA posted the weights (estimated) for his Slino design, I thought I'd come up with comparable weights for Try-Foil. The boat, built in 2007-08 has undergone a number of modification and has been generally stored outside (but under the cover of a tarp.) Weights were measured by the bathroom scale method (stand on digital scale with and without holding various components and find the difference in the weighings.) Repeat a few times to get consistent results. I figure a max error of +/- 1 pound

Hull, paint, gantry (and foam non-skid, mainsheet blocks, take-up bungees, wand pivot block) 33 lbs (compare with Slino's 26 lbs)
Wings, tramps (and foam flotation, vang and cunny floppy blocks) 23 lbs (compare with Slino's 22 lbs)
Foils, tiller (M2 mainfoil & strut, homebuilt rudder assembly) 14 lbs (compare with Slino's 19 lbs)
Rigging, standing, running, mast, sail (and boom) 18.5 lbs (compare with Slino's 29 lbs.)

Slino total (est)  43.33 kg = 95.53 lbs
Try-Foil total (measured) 88.5 lbs = 40.14 kg

I believe that's a true total. I'm not sure why the large discrepancy in the weight of the rig. I'm using a standard fat Burville mast and KA sail. The boom is a large section carbon tube (the same I use for the outer rack tubes) and was built be Ted Vandussen. Standing rigging is 3/32" wire rope. Spreader and prodder are home-built. The two primary vang purchases are some Sailing Bits thimbles. It would be interesting to see how these numbers compare with others (either production or home builds.)

Archival records

After the latest low-riding event in Rye, I got to thinking about the old days. Then today while clearing out some old files I came across a couple of clippings from an old (very old?!?) Yachts and Yachting.  Year was probably in the mid 70's, a time when I had built a Stockholm Sprite and a Mistral. I was attracted to the Mistral because of its advertised ability to effectively carry heavier helm (14 stone.)

Yep, I'm a dyed in the wool home-builder.  Those sailing production boats might never know the joy of flying your own creation...unless you're John, Amac or Cookie.

HPDO

Well, I've finally caught my breath long enough to post about last weekend's HPDO. Yes, after some long nights I did manage to sleeve and repair the rear rack bar and drive up to make the regatta. The weekend saw light breezes, except for a bit before the first race Saturday, and after the last race on Sunday (go figure...)  All the racing was held in low-riding conditions, and some in near windless drifting just fast enough to counter the tidal current.

See pic of a typical start here http://www.photoboatgallery.net/p317630384/e3c35e3b0

Results are here:http://www.yachtscoring.com/emenu.cfm?eID=478  Peter won and I finished 2nd. If I didn't have a breakdown prior to Sunday's two hour delayed start, I probably would have won, but Peter again showed the ability to string together finishes with non-lettered scores, even though he did get a TLE in the first race. The conditions were challenging for the RC as well, with a large sailing yacht drifting into the anchored RC boat mid-way through Saturday's last race causing the finish to be moved to the weather mark (and sending folks who didn't score the finish as per the rules: always finish from the direction of the last mark.) I had thought the old "button-hook" finish was well by the wayside, but not according to the folks who were recording the placings. At any rate, it didn't affect the final results.

Both Matt and Anthony bailed on Sunday's racing (Anthony literally when finding water incursion after Saturday's low-riding) leaving the 2nd day's competition to Peter, me, Bill and Spencer.  I thought I'd be smart and use a wooden rudder sans horizontal for the light winds on Sunday. Actually, it worked fine for the three hours we spent waiting for the first gun only to have a G10 gudgeon shear off thirty seconds before the start. I was towed in by Dave Ellis (former sailing master of St. Pete YC and the founder of the classic moth mid-winters series.) I did manage to make the next race with the original rudder. I'll probably re-build the wooden one with a beefier gudgeon for use in the future.

Overall, the event was fun. The hospitality by Peter and Adrianne was outstanding. The dinner Saturday night was scrumptious (and I won a $50 gift certificate to APS for my story-telling.) The beer by Heineken was plentiful and cold. The photography by Photoboat.com resulted in some great shots (primarily of Matt before the racing on Saturday.) The drive was long (and not something a 57 year old guy should pull off by himself,) but won't stop me from attending next year.

See Matt flying high here: http://www.photoboatgallery.net/p317630384/e2529bf68

And contrary to Matt's opinion as he was watching me low-riding faster and deeper than he could, I don't think it was because of the design of the Hungry Beaver as a "fat bottomed girl" but rather because of the tucked pin-tail that my boat has. Bill Beaver based his Hungry Beaver on Mark Thorpe's Hungry Tiger, the last low rider to win a worlds. So maybe the BR, the M2, and the Assassin all have more transom drag in low-riding conditions.  So here's to Queen and Emma's original Fat Bottomed Girl.

CARNAGE!

I guess it had to happen sooner or later. Once the foil issue is completely sorted, and the gantry is made bulletproof, and the tramps are re-sewn, then the next weakest part has to give. My rear wingbar gave out sailing in an ocean regatta where there were 4 foot seas and 10-20 knots of wind. Luckily a rescue r.i.b. got me back to shore. I'll attempt to sleeve the pieces but my best guess is that I'll need another tube custom made.

I'm not sure why it broke. The rear cheese slicer may have been too tight. I had just reinstalled the rack to put on the resewn tramps and may have tightened down on the U-bolt a bit too much, although I realize it only serves to hold the rack and hull together.  I also may have introduced some stress cracks by pounding on the tube with a rubber mallet the last time I disassembled it. At any rate it looks like the HPDO is a bust again this year.

I'll continue to gaze at the picture of a glory moment taken two years ago by the Photoboat folks. To all those sailing this year, I hope the conditions are just as good.

Norfolk Yacht and CC Regatta

 

Five classic mothies met in Norfolk on Labor Day weekend for the NYCC annual regatta. The breeze was non-existent for an hour and when it finally came in a little we launched at Susan's urging to get something going. We sailed one race on our own, picking nav aids and an anchored barge for rounding marks,  then the race committee came out and set a proper course for three more races. It was only the moths and the Hampton O-Ds, the remaining classes staying at home, either to continue cleaning up from Irene or to attend the ODU football opener. The absence of the dozens of Optis, a staple during prior years, was rather eye-opening and disappointing.

Mike won, I finished 2nd, Walt 3rd, Greg 4th, and Susan brought up the rear.  Certainly the light and shifty conditions were not to Susan's liking, who was looking for the steady 8-12 that she loves.  I mounted the camera on the stern quarter of Try-Umph and got some footage to show the conditions.  Video to come...

Hurricane Irene

Awning furled, deck chairs lashed down, guy lines on the live oak tree and four moth boats stashed in the garage. I had already broken down Try-Foil to remove the tramps so I could get them repaired so it was the easiest to store. Try-Umph is to the left, Shadowfax (a Magnum 2) is to the right, and Susan's Aftermath (a modified Shelly) is on the dolly.

This time tomorrow we should have 65+ mph sustained winds and up to 12 inches of rainfall.

Oh joy.

Input needed

Okay, to all the M2 owners out there...

My push-rod wand mechanism is different from the Mach2. A couple of pix are below and the relevant dimensions +/- are as follows:

Rod attaches 30 mm from the pivot point and results in a 34 degree swing in the wand to achieve the 24 mm horizontal throw at the bell crank.


Wand length is 92cm fully extended (vertical distance below the bottom of the hull when vertical) and 74cm when shortened up (as it was this past weekend)


The ride height adjustment simply lengthens or shortens the push rod and will cause the max flap up wand position to occur either with the wand vertical (high height) or at a bout a 45 degree angle (low ride height.)

Am I in the ballpark???

Managing off wind sailing

At the Ware River regatta we were presented with lots of breeze and some short steep chop. The downwind legs were interesting. If flying too high the rudder would occasionally ventilate or stall and result in a crash. My approach was to shorten up the wand and to drop the ride height. I'm not sure that's the best approach, so more experimentation is needed in those conditions. At any rate, I complied another video of the weekend's sailing. The battery died before things got really extreme so I didn't get the pitchpole on video.

Ware River Regatta

With apologies to Zallinger's "March of Progress" and the WRYC T-shirt artist, I offer the next step:

August 6th and 7th saw five moths meet for the annual Ware River Governor's cup regatta. It was the largest gathering of moths in the middle Atlantic area to date.

While rigging up we were visited by Ted Causey, who won the moth world championship at Ware River in 1976. Pic by Lin McCarthy.

The breeze was up on Saturday (topping off in the mid 20s with big waves) and we only got in 2 races with some attendant carnage. I won and Bill Beaver took second. Gui Vernieres, John Zseleczky and Mike Parsons rounded out the fleet.

John, Mike, Bill, me and Gui. Pic by Lin McCarthy

After Saturday's second race Bill heard a crack on his strut during a capsize and decided to end-for-end the strut hoping to save the foil. The top (or then the bottom) still decided to part ways while sailing back in. Needless to say he didn't sail Sunday but will surely add to the carnage album.

With Saturday's big breeze, Mike launched and shortly returned to shore figuring that discretion is better than having to repair various bits and pieces. Gui was pleased having a fairly long session in some wind and having nothing break. Neither John nor I had equipment problems, except for the loose nuts at the end of the tillers. We all agreed that whoever managed the offwind legs the best would end up on top. Gui, having his sailboard to play on after Saturday's racing, estimated the puffs in the upper twenties (he was using his 6.5 sqm sail.) The waves on the 2nd race were larger than anything I experienced at Weymouth or at the Gorge -- maybe 2.5-3 ft max. We figured the southeast wind had a fetch of about 20 miles rolling in from the mouth of the Chesapeake.

Me at speed on Saturday. pic by Lin McCarthy

Sunday dawned with still some breeze left over but it had veered to provide flat water. But by the time we got to the starting area it had dropped to sometimes marginal foiling conditions. Lin McCarthy on the RC boat got a nice shot of Gui during one flyby.

Since there were nine classes to grind through the sausage making starting sequence, we decided to bail out and just have some self-started races up to a mark and back. Sunday's sailing was fun even if it didn't count. We got lots of comments, especially from the junior Opti sailors.

I edited a video of the first race and am working on the second tonight. Still pics as I get them. The full set from Lin McCarthy is on the Yahoo! site

 

Sail or Blog?

I've been doing a whole lot more sailing than blogging so here's a consolidated report.

With the Harbor Springs regatta off the schedule, I wanted a chance to sail in fresh water so Susan an I loaded up the boats and headed about an hour and a half south to the Chowan River in North Carolina.  The pictures above shows the foiler and Susan's classic on the trailer and a close up of the Squirrel-cam arrangement.  Over two days they wasn't a lot of wind but I did manage to get airborne for about an hour each day.  Snippets of the video recorded on the first day are below. It's fun being able to sail in a bathing suit and not worry about jellyfish. The freedom without the constraint of the wetsuit made my movements aboard much more graceful. Only 19.5 knots max, but fine in the moderate conditions.

The second day I took off the camera mount and placed the Velocitek forward where I could see it. What a difference!  Being able to view the boat speed through the jibes made three is a row possible. Maybe there is hope!

After returning from North Carolina it was back in the salt waters of Willoughby Bay. I started to play with the Velocitek's ability to download tracks. One session is shown below. The speed statistics include some anomalous readings - max of over 32 knots and a average of over 27 kts. You can be sure that they are not real!



 

  I've also been trying to hit the weather window just right to get nice conditions. One day last week I launched at 9:30 and got the best two hours of the day. I like the website that provided this display. It also has the ability to display forecast conditions for the next few hours. During the summertime it's a question of whether the seabreeze will overcome the pressure gradient or not...

One day I tried another camera mount. The wind started marginal then continued to drop out. The most excitement was watching a least tern dive bomb a seagull. I wonder what was the cause of the tern's consternation?

On the racing side, I competed in a regatta on July 30 at ODU. The handicap fleet had just a handful of boats and they scored me using a Portsmouth number of 65 (my recommendation.) While the breeze was up as we were launching it dropped throughout the day. Needless to say I couldn't sail to the rating and finished out of the money. It was useful to have timed starts, mark roundings, figuring laylines, etc.  There was another race at Ware River the following week and I'll have a separate post for that.

Sail, break, repair, repeat.

Two days ago the rudder's horizontal got a little loose so yesterday was spent reattaching it with a bigger  1/4"-20 bolt and some WEST System Six-10 adhesive. Today I hit the water again and ended up with a broken pushrod. The pain in the neck is that the piece that broke is the 10-32 left hand thread I use for the ride height adjuster. So it's another quickie order to McMaster in Chicago for a couple of bolts (one to replace the broken piece and a second for a spare.)  I did manage to collect a new piece of video with the speed readout much clearer. The breeze was less than Thursday and my top speed was almost as great. I've added some subtitles and music. Enjoy. I still gotta work on the jibes and remember to attach the tiller centering bungee...

The beginnings of a long set of tweaks

For the past week I've been sailing Try-Foil with her new gantry and new M2 mainfoil. These sessions have been the first since last year's debacle at Harbor Springs. The initial settings on the strut and rudder angles were my best guess. I've been tweaking the mainfoil's AoA and have been pushing the boat hard upping my highest recorded speed (as of today it stands at 23.3 kts.) I've also installed a GoPro camera and have taken some interesting video.

My first attempt (sans music) is a sorta homage to the moth pioneer videographers, including my version of the Squirrel-cam, the under-the-transom Bora-cam, and a nod to Gui's North Cacalaki road trip.

The next outing will have the Velocitek much closer to easily read the speed. And even though the turbid water of Willoughby Bay is my home pond, is it any wonder why I'm eager to sail again in the crystal clear water of Lake Michigan up at Harbor Springs?

Gantry #3

After a couple of weeks playing with my classic (the first coat of paint went on yesterday) I finally got around to working on the foiler. The projects include fitting the M2 mainfoil and re-building the gantry attachment points. After my "agricultural" repair of gantry #2 at Cascade Locks, I needed a new gantry that would not fail. The design does away with the lower bottle screw and instead incorporates the threaded fork for gross adjustments. The top attachment points are also forked, but of glass tube rigorously reinforced with lots of carbon. I also beefed up the saddle flanges from 1/8" to 3/16" G10 plate. The whole bit seems much more solid and cleaner. I've decided to do away with the fairing although after a few weeks of use it may come back.

With the gantry attachment points repaired I can reassemble the racks so I can easily lay the boat on its side. Next up is the M2 strut cassette for the well. I hope to have the trial fit in the next few days and perhaps hit the water by next weekend. Stay tuned.

More Seconds

Susan and I just came back from the Classic Moth regatta in Brigantine, NJ, a seven hour drive from Norfolk. I was sailing my 14 year old mistral "Try-Umph" on which I had just recently replaced the roll tanks. Susan was sailing her Shelley, "Aftermath." She finished mid fleet (8th out of 15) and I finished 2nd (with a 2,2,1,1,2), just one point behind John Zseleczky. Mike Parsons finished 3rd. That's three guys who have also built foilers in the top three places.  The racing was fun and the party hosted by Joe Courter was even better. I can't wait 'til next year.  After the racing it seems like the Ware River regatta will have at least 5 international moths so we'll get our own start. As of now, Bill, Gui, John, Mike and I all are interested. Maybe even another couple of guys from the Annapolis area. I'm looking forward to this race in seven weeks -- I hope there'll be some wind.

The replaced roll tanks on Try-Umph were an attempt to improve the appearance and drop a few pound in the hull weight.  The original tanks were overbuilt and were completed in eight pieces as described in this link.    For the new tanks I removed a lot of the underlying structure, sistered the frames with some foam and laid a piece of 5.7 oz carbon cloth under the section where I sit and hike. The results look better to me.


Also on a second lap is the picture in this month's Sailing World, that Photoboat.com took of me in 2008 at the HHPDO in Rye, NY. Since I guess "All publicity is good, except an obituary notice ," I'm glad for the mention, even if my name isn't mentioned. It does go to show that all moths aren't black, that there are some homebuilts being raced, and that all mothies aren't experts. Thanks Dr. Crash, even if I'm not from Indian Harbor.

Photo by Photoboat.com in Sailing World magazine

Back to the Future

School and crew season have finally ended and I can now turn back to working on Try-Foil. The goal this season is to fit the new Mach2 mainfoil and strut to my boat. The first challenge is to adapt the lower bell crank pivot to my modified pushrod location which was situated to match up with the old FC mainfoil. My solution is to simply raise the pin location resulting in an effectively shorter strut. I'll also have to beef up the strut where it exits the hull to match the designed exit point, now an inch and a half higher. I'll also have to fit a new cassette for my well to accommodate the new cross section. Hopefully all will be taken care of in the next couple of weeks.

But first up is a re-decking of Try-Umph, by 1997 mistral classic. Next weekend Susan and I will be heading to New Jersey to sail in the 20th annual Brigantine moth regatta organized by George Albaugh, a CMBA stalwart and class historian. Susan will be in Aftermath, her Shelley,  and I'll be sailing the mistral. With the past few years focused on travel with Try-Foil (in '08 to Weymouth, in '09 to Cascade Locks, and last summer to Harbor Springs) we hadn't made the trip to Brigantine, one of Susan's favorites, in quite a few years. So I'm looking forward to the racing and socializing after a week of  boat work replacing the roll tanks.

As an aside, George recently posted on his blog Mid-Atlantic Musings  some historical material about mothing in the 1950s. Included in recent classic moth discussions was the moth hiking board (seen in the pic at the top, courtesy of George Bailey) a controversy that caused them to be banned at the 1950 IMCA AGM.  Seems nothing is new under the sun as we consider the solid wing sixty years later. Interestingly enough, George relates that Warren Bailey won the 1954 Moth World Championship in his boat MACH ONE. Isn't it a small world?

Here's the video by Clayton Fuller that George posted:

Added Value?

From Scuttlebutt:

(March 4, 2011) - The submission deadline for the all-deciding ISAF mid-year conference beginning of May in St. Petersburg is approaching fast - in fact it will be 12:00 UTC on Monday, March 10. Here are some quotes from well know members of the Sailing Community that highlight why Kiteboarding should become a part of the future Olympic Sailing Programme.

...Jerome Pels (ISAF Secretary General): "Foiling Moths with wing masts and kiteboards are the answer" (in response to a statement from Pierre Ducrey, Head of Sports Operations at IOC, regarding "added value" that sailing needs to provide to the Olympic Games)....

This answer to the added value question will result in a twofold increase in cost for those wanting to achieve Olympic gold. The difference in cost between the kiteboard answer and the wing mast moth answer would be at least one order of magnitude. While the ISAF may think this is good for sailing, I'm pretty sure it wouldn't be good for the class. Besides, would an Olympic designated moth be a one-design (hopefully limiting costs) or keep the development aspect?

It seems a pot of trouble if you ask me.

Equipment matrix

I sorta missed the compilation of an equipment matrix for the competitors at Belmont. I know it's a lot of work, and somewhat like trying to herd cats, but can anyone give us who weren't there some insight as to the equipment used? Obviously a lot of M2s and KA sails. Where was the first non-M2? How many BRs? Assasins? Ninjas? FCs? Homebuilds?

What other sails besides the KA kit? I was intrigued to see a white sail used by Michael O'Shea in at least some races. What else raised the eyebrows? Any large chord masts?  I thought I saw a wooden boat in a pic or two.

Curious minds what to know.

Doug's gear table for the Europeans is linked here for reference.

Why do you sail the moth?

From Chris' blog.

I think the title question is an interesting one. So why do I sail the moth? Unlike the vast majority of current sailors my motivation is rooted in my youth and my college sailing experiences. Yeah, I built and raced International moths in the 70s and back then adopted the ethos of home builder. But that class of ply hulls and box wings (even tho I used a double luff sail)  is way different from the present foilers.

So what is the draw to the foilers and why do I continue to tilt at windmills? Yeah, there's a handful of homebuilders in the US but I seem to be the only guy doing the traveling (not to Dubai or Belmont, but I sailed at Weymouth, Cascade Locks, and Harbor Springs.)

I found a short piece I wrote over three years ago and it still rings true:

"Seduced Again"

Anyone who has sailed long enough has had that experience of  “Wow! This is what it’s all about.”  For some, including me, the experience includes an adrenaline rush brought on by speed and power. Big boats sailors get it, dinghy sailors get it, multi-hull sailors and sailboarders get it.  I’ve had that experience on all of those platforms. I recall the first time the speedo broke double digits during a breezy downhill spinnaker run on the J-33. Of course, included are the numerous times I was whooping with delight on the heavy air broad reaches on my Laser. Or on the canoe, blasting to weather, hiking off the end of the sliding seat. Surely, hitting twenty knots with the weather hull kissing the tops of the waves on a NACRA 5.2. And definitely sailing a short board with the hull seemingly in the air as much as it was in the water as I skipped across the surface of Willoughby Bay. But all of those experiences happened back in my younger days. It’s been almost twenty years since I’ve heard the siren’s song. Six weeks ago she grabbed my attention with a whispered “shussssssssssssh.”

      The occasion was the classic moth nationals in Elizabeth City. After we finished racing on Saturday, Bill Beaver loaned me his foiler Bambi Gets High. Within five minutes, without having to tack once, I was foiling. Actually it would have happened sooner but the wind was in the 8-10 knot range and I needed the slight puff to lift my 175 pounds off the surface. I had read about the moment in numerous moth blogs but until I experienced it I didn’t really understand.  In every other boat I’ve sailed, the faster it went the more noise it made. The crashing through the waves, the splashing of spray and foam, the creaking of the rig, the hum of the board or rudder and the occasional flogging of the sail – these things are the hallmarks of power and speed. Until now. As the Hungry Beaver rose from the water and accelerated, the noise that meant a boat was going fast went away. Silence. Wonder. Amazement. A quiet shusssssssssh as the foils sliced through the Pasquotank River. I was immediately smitten.
    Bill has gotten it right. His foiler was immaculately prepared and constructed so that even I, a 52 year old high school teacher, could scamper aboard and feel in control.  During one sustained puff I was hiking full out off the rack, steering and holding the sheet with one hand as I dangled my other hand down and dragged it through the water, all the while being foil-borne 24 inches above the river. Compared to Bill’s earlier Bambi Meets Thumper, an extremely narrow low-rider, his new boat is forgiving and stable. The large diameter wing longitudinals and the Styrofoam he stuffed in the outer bit of the tramp allowed me to stay hooked in whenever the wind died and threatened to capsize me to weather. At the next puff I just needed a couple of quick pumps on the sheet and I was out of the water and moving smartly. Easier than waterstarting! Bill had told me that the area of the hull around the daggerboard was reinforced so that if I needed to stand on the hull to right it after a capsize, that was where I was to step. I never used that technique. Actually, righting and climbing aboard was much easier than my 1970’s Magnum moth design.
     I’m now committed to having a foiler of my own. With Bill’s and Gui’s assistance, I started on the road to foiling last weekend. I’m working on the blades now and I’ve gotten a quote for a new KA sail and Burvill mast. I hope to start the hull before the holidays. By next spring my seductress will have her way with me.
 Stay tuned.  

So, yeah, it's sort of an addiction, a seduction, an urge that needs a periodic fix. The fact that my boat will probably never win a Gran Prix level regatta is rather irrelevant. In fact, I get the most pleasure just blasting across Willoughby Bay, my local piece of water, and coming ashore tired but satisfied -- even more so if nothing broke or if the latest fix seemed to be an improvement. 

Come this spring I'll be using my fourth mainfoil (finally breaking down and buying a M2 centreboard) and my second rudder (and of course, contemplating making a third rudder that will be even longer and stiffer.) I'm staying with my 4-year old KA sail and fat mast for the short term, so there's no garage built wing in the near future, but who knows? 

I'm envious of those with the top of the line kit, but am happy with my home-built seductress.

Belmont from half a world away

Congrats to Nathan; a well deserved win! And a great job by Scott as regatta director and to the sponsors and videographers. I only wish we would have had the TracTrac working like at the Euroupeans.



The US contingent finished with 5 in the top 20, but only one in the top ten. The home field advantage was certainly in play with the lion's share going to the home country and most of the top going to the Lake Macquarie regulars.

The lessons learned seem to be:

(1) practice
(2) have equipment in top-notch condition to prevent breakage
(3) have lots of free time to practice
(4) be strong and fit and not afraid of big air
(5) practice often with a few high ability "mates."
(6) use well tested equipment, not risking untried modifications
(7) practice.

There's an old Vaudeville routine: "How do you get to Carnegie Hall?" Practice, practice, practice.

Next up in a short 17 months is the 2012 Worlds in Italy. Will I be there? Hopefully, but for sure in San Diego in 2013.  My boat will soon be sporting a new Mach2 mainfoil so this upcoming season should be a lot more productive.

A prediction on who to watch

I'll have my eye on George "Bear" Peet and how he finishes when I consider the overall effectiveness or not of the wing. If Bora wins, unless it's a huge going-away-margin of difference, it may not prove much. Bear, on the other hand, seems always to be just out of the top group. He's an extremely knowledgeable sailor and a whiz at repair and fabrication. He has also been involved for years as Bora's training partner and was from day one in with the Object2 wings. If Bear breaks into the top three or four then for me the wing will have proven its effectiveness.