A second trial with the M23 trimaran saw the addition of a new code zero headsail… good addition, well worth the extra expense! In the sub 6 knots of breeze that we tried it in, the Code Zero made a huge difference by adding a good couple of knots onto the boat speed although it pulled the tacking angle down. All round it made the boat more lively (predictable).

At about 8 knots of air there is a big crossover point where sailing with the self-tacking blade headsail gives really good upwind angles and in about 8 knots of air we managed high-sixes and sevens. In the same breeze and trying to hold high angles the Code Zero powered the boat up to lively levels but the pointing angle was about 20 degrees lower (also predictable).

The other interesting fact was sailing with a few F16’s that happened to be out on the water at the same time. In the light and puffy air the M23 was pointing slightly higher and maintaining similar speeds with the F16 cat. Although as soon as the F16’s got enough puff to hop on the trapeze they zoomed ahead. Reaching angles, another interesting point as well – speeds were similar with the M23 having the Code Zero advantage!

What this all means? It will be an interesting weekend if we manage to get the 56sqm asymmetric spinnaker in place as the Code Zero is only 22sqm … and things will get very interesting when the Northeast Monsoon season comes around!

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What a kool spot – especially during the Southwest Monsoon that Singapore is experiencing now. No one really expects this in Singapore but… blue skies, nice breeze, white sand and a great little Club right on the waters edge! So if you’re looking for a real chill out spot by the beach in Singapore, find Mana Mana on the East Coast right next to the famous hawker centre.

The weekend at Mana Mana turned out to be a great race training session for two of Singapore’s Nacra 20 One Designs – the red one and the white one! Their impressive rigs tower over everything else on the beach and the way they can power up is pretty amazing! Even in the lightish breeze, both trapezes were well used upwind. Races were of the ’short course’ variety. The 3 laps per race ensured that there was plenty going on for the crews.

The modern racing cat has placed a lot more emphasis on crew work with all major control lines falling under the crew ‘department’. Get it right and its a very rewarding experience. Get it wrong and well, its a very wet experience! And, either way its great fun.

The Singapore Cat Fleet has been scattered over various corners of the island. Some went to Raffles Marina for the Western Circuit others were at Mana Mana for the ‘Classic’ and still more at Changi Sailing Club. But as we move towards the Northeast Monsoon, all the cats will start to congregate at Changi Sailing Club. But for now, Mana Mana is doing a great job of keeping some race/training happening and its so nice to just race right in front of the Club.

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All things red are fast. Ferrari, Ducati and err Nacra 20’s! Right out-of-the-box the 20 has proved itself to be a good number. Big sail area, great controls and perfectly balanced on the helm. “Red Rocket” made it into Singapore waters as the first red Nacra 20 that we’ve ever seen and it does look good – why anyone would want a white boat is beyond me.

But colour aside… she was bolted together and then sailed around “the corner” to the Mana Mana Club on Singapore’s southern shoreline for the Mana Mana Cat Classic – a first for the fledgling club. On the water, a few Vipers and Taipans that had just competed in the Western Series at Raffles Marina and so it would be a good measure of the new boat.

Our starts weren’t fantastic but it soon became apparent at how quickly the N20 can catch up! At one point on a beat in under 5 knots of breeze, a big ferry boat sent up a big wake. With the leading Viper and Taipans heading straight into it this would be an interesting measure of waterline versus ‘hi-tech’. Well the difference was pretty eye popping. In one big wave the N20 made a good 4 boat lengths to go from 4th and into the lead!

Although the breeze was light it also showed up another surprising fact about the N20. Once you get it rolling it will generate a good amount of apparent wind. In a lot of cases we ended up double trapezing where the F16’s were only single trapping. It’s counter intuitive as everyone thinks that the light weight of the F16’s will allow then to trapeze early.

But if you look at the rig size of the N20 and the depth of the foils, you’ll begin to understand just how much bioght it will have in the water! Good bite from the foils and keep generating apparent and you have a good combination to get you through the light stuff. One thing is for sure, Vipers can really accelerate. Once they pop their kites they’ll take off in a great spurt.

Overall, the N20 came away with a win for the weekend which is good as she was fresh from the box. I really like the way it steers… it’s as light as the F16’s on the helm. The other notable difference is the running angle with the kite. The N20 can run much deeper than the F16’s. I’d hazard a guess and say that it has everything to do with the shoulder cut of the spinnakers. On the 20 the shoulders tend to stand up more to windward than the Goodall F16 Gen 4’s and so in most cases the 20 just runs through the fleet lower and faster – nice!

It took us about 6 months to get used to the F16 Viper and get her up to the standard of tune so given more time with the N20 I can say performance figures are just going to grow but atleast we’re starting off at a good level.

Soaring Girl

This has nothing to do with fast boats or bikes…

But I just like the image and since I like exercising my camera once in a while… so why not!

It was taken at the Nagoya Glass Art Gallery – outside was stunning inside was breath-taking with David Chihuly pieces literally hanging around. I don’t think I’ve ever seen glass art quite like it but that will have to be another post!

Japan is like a refreshing breath of design air and hard to explain unless you visit and see for yourself but every aspect is near on perfect in every sense. There are a lot of galleries featuring world class works and it was a treat to see David Chihuly’s creations up close and personal.

So my little camera got quite a good work out – maybe one day I should really read the Owners Manual! Nope – that’d be cheating! Also amazing, Nagoya street art goes to a whole new level… you’ll see that in another post as well – you won’t believe it!

This is hot of the press! Now autographed are available in the Blue Lizard Sports shop at Changi Sailing Club, Singapore.

Most moments of the last season were captured on film and it was a particularly good season as the wind kicked in plus we added a few new speed machines into the fleet. Needless to say, it was the season that the new Viper F16 pretty much dominated. But in terms of overall speed, ‘Goliath” arrived in the form of the Nacra 20 One Design and then ‘David’ appeared all Moth sized! Then we had new speed machines zipping around the channels. Top speed of the season was the Nacra 20 with a 23.7 knots (with 3 men-sized ‘boys’ on it).

But am pretty sure that next season we’ll see some huge numbers from Singapore’s ‘Wright Brothers’ – Mark & James who first pioneered ‘flight’ in Singapore! Most of the action has been captured with large pictures so no one of my era should have trouble reading it! It’s a nice way to remember the season.

You can PREVIEW the book and purchase it from the site directly – just click on the ABOUT BOOK button, top right of the preview screen. I’m going to pour a portion of the proceeds back into the Cat Fleet, just so we can get more speed machines into the local fleet and drive the records higher next season!

So lets see who was fastest…
Henry in Bali did 21.6 knots on a Nacra 5.0
Henry also did 22.4 knots on the 570 in Singapore
”SuperGooon’, David’s Nacra 20 did 23.7 knots
James should have done 25++ knots on the Moth and not to be out done…
Scott just did 70 knots in the F3000! (But that’s a whole new story)

But let’s not forget, it was Macca who helped so many of us get up to speed with his great Monsoon Madness Clinic, that’s inside as well!

Ahhh it was a great season!
Looking forward to the next seasoon too!..

NOW that we have added a couple of Nacra 20’s and a Multi 23 to the fleet, things are going to be interesting as we line up and wait for the next Northeast Monsoon to come in. James is back from the Moth Worlds (learning curve), the extra 20’s in the fleet means we can do some boat-on-boat tuning and the trimaran offers beach-cat sailing for 5 pax! Interesting times for sure…and more speed!!!

Southeast Asia’s first Multi 23 arrived at Changi Sailing Club a few months back and I was lucky enough to have had a few goes on it in a light breeze. First look at it and she looks right – eliptical amas, rockered main hull…blah, blah and it should she comes with a big pedigree having come of the design board of THE GURUS of large multihulls…Van Peteghem and Lauriot Prevost and if you haven’t heard of them – where have you been.

Van Peteghem and Lauriot Prevost have penned a beautiful boat and that she looks like the famous breed of big French multihulls is no mistake. Between this pair, they have designed every major record-setting multihull that exists. So it was in fact, a great honour to finally hop aboard one of their creations.

The lines are right, the proportions are perfect and the manner through the water – spot on! I like tri’s but only when they look right and go right! ‘Going right’ in French terms means…the ability to lift the mainhull, if you can’t…don’t bother!

So I am really happy to report that with only 14 knots of apparent breeze you can haul the maihull out of the water and yet the boat feels serenely stable and the view from the windward ama is rather breath-taking! Being bolted together, the overall weight of the platform has been kept to a minimum and at 360kgs all-up she’s light. 200% floatation exists ineach ama and that’s part of the secret of being able to lift the mainhull completely out of the water!

So far, we’ve sailed her 2 and 3 up although she’ll have no problem carry about 5 bodies as the wing space is rather vast and the long cockpit is a comfortable place to sit. There still a minor bit of tuning up to be done but by my reckoning, she’ll be fast enough to surprise many much larger boats. The Multi 23 accelerates like a high-powered beach cat and seems to go upwind a bit higher in true tri-fashion.

On the helm, she has a big-boat feel yet responds like a formula beach cat. It’s a nice combination that is fast yet feels super secure no matter how much she gets powered up. It’s an uncanny feeling sitting wide and high on the windward ama as the boat powers up. In about 12 knots of breeze she’ll really start coming into her own. We haven’t experienced the Code Zero or kite yet as things have still to settle down…BUT, it’s coming…

We’ve got a good tune up program coming so the next few months will see this baby get faster and faster.  More soon on this chapter…

Boats, Bikes and Boards just added BOG & BOULDERS!

I was lucky enough to be able to ride with these guys as they conquered a bit of a trail just outside Kuala Lumpur. Now I’ve always seen things like the Rainforest Challenge on TV but never got around to watching it live. And so, assembled in KL on Sunday morning was a half dozen hard core 4X4’s and they needed it where they were going!

The trail starts just of the old highway leading to the Genting Highlands. Turn off the highway and within a few hundred yards, the world changes. It was really refreshing to breathe in fresh air again. The trail is only about 2.5 km in length but took about 5 hours to reach the end of it.

What’s good about the 4X4 guys?
They’re in it for the challenge so where there may have been a log bridge one vehicle would pass over it and then the others would try to get around it! On the first such pass I watched in awe as a rugged Land Cruiser buried itself up to it’s bonnet in bog! No way out I thought but in the end it did clamber out with the assistance of a winch or two.

But what these machines can climb is pretty amazing and until you see it, it’s hard to comprehend! Towards the end of the trail there was a river crossing I thought the size of the boulders would halt progress but no, all managed!

It’s a good scene as people pitch in to help each other and it seems that the more impossible that the obstacle appears – THE BETTER.

This is another true case of “The Journey Is the Destination”.

There are about 10 4X4 clubs around and with so much jungle nearby, it’s an active scene. If anyone wants to know more about it, let me know and I’ll put you in touch with the Club.

If you want to have a quick look at more mud slinging photos look HERE.

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As part of my “learning to fly on water” series, I got a great lesson in 2G turns!

The ‘break through’ came as Robert Fernandez delivered the twin seat F3000 to the waters edge with

“the selling point is the hi-G turns, hop in I’ll show you then, you have a go!”

Okay, to say it was eye opening is an understatement! I’ve never been in a boat which can turn around itself like this can.
The cornering technique is ‘just’…“approach the turn-in point on the gas. Stay on the gas, trim the nose down, let it settle and firmly push it into the corner and DON’T get off the gas”.

Easier said than done! But sitting in the co-pilots seat, I was simply amazed. Robert spun it into hi-G turn after turn. Accelerate hard for 300m and the trim and turn…trim up, accelerate, repeat until well blended!

It was a priceless lesson. So for the next few training sesssions, the in flight series will be concentrating on getting into the corners and maintaining as much mid-corner speed as possible. The tunnel hull design lends itself well to delivering high top speeds while maintaining flat high G turns and it’s all a matter of dynamics. Aerodynamics come into play down the straights and then hydrodynamics when you hammer into a corner. Of course experts like Robert and Kane Fernandez make it look all too easy!

But as with all adrenalin sports… practice makes perfect, so more seat time it is!

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Well I finally got around to publishing a book! So this post has got nothing to do with speed or adventure, I was only hanging out o fthe helicopter for just one day and even managed to get some good photos. It was a bit like rounding up motor yachts with a heli – darn good fun! But once the side door opened well, then it became ‘work’.

The ‘work’ came from Simpson Marine Malaysia who needed some shots of the charter fleet which is currently based in Langkawi. If you haven’t seen Langkawi, you’re missing out! It’s a beautiful spot one of the natural wonders one might say. It hasn’t been ravaged by development yet there is enough there to see and do. I’d say it’s one of the most wholesome places for a getaway. Of course it doesn’t get any better than by boat as that will get you into places that most visitors will never see.

Although most people think of Langkawi as an island, it is in fact 99 islands and there in lies the intrigue. There’s great fjords that soar overhead, a ‘hole in the wall’ that everyone loves to visit and if you head up river on the north coast you are treated to the rare sight of sea eagles swooping in by the dozens!

The main island is a rugged piece of nature but it’s easy to scale the peaks using the Langkawi Cable Car which takes you to the roof of the island for a great view of the neighbouring Thai islands. The three yachts that feature in Island Legends, come in the ’small, medium and large’ variety each with a distinct characteristic. They’re currently based out of Telaga Harbour where they will remain for the remainder of the season.

I made the book as it was the best way to represent the photos. But since I put it up on the web its moved a few copies so I thought others may like to see it as well.Island Legends refers to Langkawi which is really well known for being the Island Of Legends… check it out!

You can get a preview at HERE.

If you’d like to see just how beautiful it really was, look at the GALLERY

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Another great session on Lake ‘X’ Kuala Lumpur with the Fernandez family… but this was a sweet surprise. Warren is the yougest of the flying family and on Tuesday’s testing session he pulled 134 km/h out of the bag and today he eclipsed that with a fantastically fast run at 138km/h – that leaves me languishing some 4km/h behind! Yes i got my butt kicked by a 13 year-old!

Warren will be the successor to the crown in the Malaysian F3000 Tour in a few years time, but currently homework gets in the way! I’d have to say that premium 2-stroke fluid probably pumps through his veins as the whole family are advocates of the sport of tunnel hull racing. It’s really good to see the father son bonding that brings this family to the lake to test, train and have a good time together. Warren being the youngest will definitely follow the footprints that have been left before him.

Watching Warren, Keith and Kane follow Dad’s lead is a very gratifying thing to see and something that is lacking from so many families today. Of course, Roberts burning passion for F3000’s is infectious – and that’s another rare trait in this day and age! So while Warren kicked my butt into the shadows, Kane motored around everyone posting a kool 148km/h – and still “more to come” as he says in his nonchalant manner. I dare say that Keith also kicked my butt…but that means I have more work to do!
But I’m also fortunate as all of the Fernandez family offer good advice on every outing so I can feel good and steady progress…the corners still need a lot more work followed by more straight line speed, but we’re getting there and that’s thanks to the Fernandez Team.

If you are keen to know more about F3000 in Malaysia, drop me a comment…

For past posts on F3000 Malaysia click HERE

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