Hey there,

Beautiful days sailing Sunday 12 July on Moreton Bay, sunny, 5 - 10 knots. A touch more breeze would have been great but I am not complaining.

Fleet of 4 cats sailed 5.8, A class, Maricat 5.0 and me, plus the monohulls.

Blew the start as thought we were waiting for the 5.8 who had to wait for his crew, also had jammed clew knot on kite in pole pulley on downwind to start line.

I had to jump in and free it from pulley, lucky I had run the kite as otherwise this would have happened in race. Had only got back on boat when 1 minute signal went - I thought that was 5 minute.......

Sailed really well, the A got away up to first mark, but I caught him at end of downwind and rounded ahead. This was how it would pan out over whole race. The 5.8 came in at first top mark after missing the start. Managed to keep them behind me throughout the race, they would get closer on upwinds but I could get away on downwinds.

It was a good long course of 3 triangles, 2 sausage and windward to finish.

Went opposite side of course to A class on last downwind and this proved to be better side of course and got a huge lead on him.

Last windward up to finish had the 5.8 chasing hard but had just enough lead to cross first.

Just a great day out on the water.

Really felt I have started to find the lines and trim to sail the mossie, still plenty of room to go though.

Next race in 2 weeks, will update again.

Cheers,

Hey all,

Another weekend of beautiful winter weather, raced at Royal Qld on Sat in their Frostbite series.

I was in a fleet of 1 - yes all by myself in the mixed cat division. Normally there are more cats but none showed on Sat.
There were plenty of Optimists, Sabots, 420's, 29ers, Tasars, puffins, Lasers & Contenders in the mono fleets.

There was also another fleet of Lasers on a seperate course for Australian masters. So in all quite a fleet on the water, it was great to be out.

So I started with the allboats division which was nice to at least be part of some fleet.

Came home first in both races - bit hard not too when there is only 1.....

Had about 5 - 8 knots maybe and played around with sailing positions when going downwind, tried standing up as far forward as could go on windward hull and front beam ( thanks Ben for idea ). Basically doing whatever to get tails out of water. Did the same upwind by sitting on hull in front of beam with my feet on the spinnaker pole.

The course was really cool - we did upwind, then down to a gate type double leeward mark where you can go either port or starboard then back to windward and then around a trapezoid with 2 reaches and a downwind and then beat to finish line, suited the spinnaker rig well.

Was just a lovely day to be out the water and sailing, will be sailing again this weekend with kids at Cleveland so will have some competition to race against. Hope to sail well.

I will update the East Coast web page with sailing reports for winter racing and the Toukley brass monkey soon.

Cheers,

We had a really nice sailing day here on the Gippsland Lakes (no racing organised though). The sun was out and a 12-15 knot breeze was blowing, so I spent a couple of hours sailing around the lake on the Sabre for a change of pace. Quite good fun actually.

Update.

Sailed again the other week at Cleveland Sunday 26 July.

Another 5 knot day and beautiful sunshine on the bay.

Sailed 2 up with Hamish - we ran jib and kite.

We had A class, 5.8, 5.0 x 2, hobie 16 & mari 5.0 plus monhulls.

Kept the 5.8 within range but could not get up with them and then had a long gap to A class and rest of fleet behind.

Not sure how it finished up on handicap as no results posted but think I would have been close to getting over the 5.8.

Another few knots would have been nice but it was a cracker of a day to be out on the water.

Played around with spinnaker pole height and set it lower than before - think this may be better position for shape.

Who hooo.....summer racing coming soon!

Cheers,

still waiting for infor on plans for a mossie ... can anyone help

icatchya,

I suggest that you get in contact with Tim Shepperd, his details will be on the Vic Mossie web site as he is National Measurer and should be able to point you in the right direction if he can't help.....am sure that he will be able to tho'.

If not get back in touch with me and I will get someone to contact you with the details,
...my details are on the national Website.

David , National Sec.
Mossie 1744, Salpicon de Resplandor

G'day Drew,

Loving the commentary of your winter series.

Is there a full weekend regatta in SEQ during winter that we could put into the calendar for next year?

Hey there,

Is that Russell after the plans?
I have a copy of the plans and can lend them to you.
I think you wanted to check out materials list and get a feel for what was involved in a build?
To get a sail number need to buy the set and should contact Tim S for that.
Will drop them down to CYC for you to collect.


Col - will see what we can come up with for regatta.

There is Easter regatta at Lake Cootharaba on Sunshine Coast but that conflicts with regattas in Vic I think.

I went to Brass Monkey regatta at Toukley on NSW coast for June long weekend but I think that is same as Sauna sail. Well organised, great location and accommodation nearby and a growing fleet each year.

Forster Wild cat may be option as right at start of sailing season in October.

Or Lake Cootharaba has All Boats regatta in August and that is multiple races over a weekend - try link - http://www.lcsc.org.au/allboats/NOR.PDF

That's about all I can manage.

Glad the winter commentary has pleased some.
The sailing has been great and enjoyable.

Cheers,

G'day Drew,

Thanks for that.

The Lake Cootharaba All Boats Looks Good (though the club officials may be living in the past checking out the schedule of race) . If you could get dates for next year, I'll see what I can do to make it up there.

Cheers.

What do you need to know about them? I believe there are a couple of sets. One is the original Neil Fowler design. The other is a more recent (90's) version. They are both for plywood construction. There is also a set of instructions (or a building guide - I think written by Philip Pearce) that comes with the plans.

If you want to buy a set, contact Philip Warren-Smith. His details are on the VMCA contacts page.

Hi everyone
basically what I need to start with is the grade of ply and the quanity used, the availability and supply of mast and fixings and also what is the decision re square top mains probably pentex or similar ... I don't believe that it is worth the effort unless we can make it as modern as poissible, If it works out like I would want it to I would like to build a few at the same time
Regards
Russell

Sail, Dacron, Pentax, Kelvar, Mylar whatever, but no square top, if you won't build the boat because you don't think its modern enough, maybe choose a another class. I don't think they'll bend the rules to suit for that reason.

Marine Plywood, Gaboon if you find some good stuff.

Quantity, guessing 7 sheets, 1 sheet of 50mm foam.

Fittings, Masts etc... Goodall Yacht Sails, the Association or a Boat Shop.

Hi Russell

It sounds like you are thinking of the Taipan, not the Mozzie.
It's basically the same construction technique in plywood, and yes they did go to a square top main. You should talk to the Taipan Association (or possibly AHPC) about plans. AHPC supply the masts and fittings as well.

If you are serious about wanting to "make it as modern as possible" then you should be building an F16 (not a one-design). The Blade plans are available for plywood construction, from Phil Brander.

Good luck.

Has been trialed for over a year.
Big top mainsail
These options use the same mast length as is currently used, with a new sail plan. There is more than one possibility here:
Blade sail
Shorten the boom and push out the top of the mainsail while retaining the same sail area. The idea is to improve the efficiency and appearance of the sail with the minimum of changes.
Untried
Big top sail
Add a bigger head to the existing sail shape while keeping the same foot length. This is intended to improve the appearance of the sail and gain some extra power from the additional sail area.
Tried out a few years ago but killed at the AGM for some reason.


The only real difference between these two is whether the sail area is increased or not
Sounds like I have hit a raw nerve here but read above the extract from the mossie website..... so building in kevlar etc is not making it as modern as possible? all I am asking is if the rules had been amended yet !!!!

the class rules and building rules are there for a reason, yes this did come up the the agm, but it change the rules its not a mossie anymore, its a whole different class.
We race the boats on how they are, to get better at sailing is to sail and learn on what we have. Eg: the lasers and hobies havent changed cos there a class. if all the boats are the same it all comes down to the sailor. and thats how really it should be, not the boats, we sail on how they are.

That information on the website is a bit old now. It was written around 2001 when some experiments were being conducted. A lot of work was put into it but the issue is dead now and there are no plans to make any changes to the Mosquito sailplan now.

We're real happy with it the way it is!

Like I said before, if you are keen to experiment the F16 is the class for you, and they too can be home built in plywood.

Thanks for the tip-off anyway - I should bring that page up to date.

I'm not sure what you're asking re the kevlar. Kevlar, foam & carbon have been used to build Mozzies since the 80's - it's not what you'd call a new development.

Cheers

I'm not sure you've hit a nerve, just saying the square top is not in or part of the class rules is all. Don't get me wrong, you can do what you like, but I'm saying your sail would not measure as a Mosquito Class Sail.

But in saying that, let me say this...You could just as well build a Taipan, put a square top on that is already class legal and built pretty much the same way.

I would never discourage anyone from building a boat, its a great journey, good luck.

This is really turning out to be too hard .... from a simple clarification of the rules from info on your own website to a longwinded conversation ......... I will find another class of boat to explore

Hey there,

Whoa....... Russell mate! It is not too hard just the mossie is a class that has parameters, which is what the other sailors are saying. This is the same in some way for all boat classes.

I think Tim's suggestion of going F16 or Taipan if you want 'modern' or to 'develop' is very wise advice.

If you want a mossie then build a mossie.

The mossie is a very efficient design and set up as it is, it consistently performs against other classes on yardstick, why mess with what has stood the test of time.

Matt's comments about our class are apt - if the boats change then it makes it difficult to race against each other.

Decide on a class and work within the parameters of that class.

Surely it is all about the enjoyment of sailing in the end, see you on the water.

Cheers,

And you think thats hard? And your going to build more than one boat?

Your seeking clarification of a rule that doesn't exist. You may not see it but we are in actual fact trying to help you, and that includes building something or fitting it out that would be outside class rules. If you want to race at state titles, nationals etc.. you wouldn't be able to.

Its not that hard to work out. I think maybe read the post at the top of this page and then the very next post addresses alll the issues in one go.