Opposites attract?

Here's just s few fun shots of me mothing around the Tradewinds waters passing a boat that - in so many ways - is kinda the opposite of a Moth. It's classic, classy, heavy and it is rather slow even though it has many masts and many sails...

Through the looking glass :-D

That said, it looks like a nice build and I kinda guessed it was a Renebuild. I am not quite sure what convinced me of that, but sometimes it is as if the builders have a certain signature. I shouted at the skipper over there and asked, and sure enough...

Almost a Rene boat

Well, almost sure enough. It's from ReneMarine, but actually it's built by her partner, Jethro. He has a thing for oldtimers such as this. Here's a few shots of another boat of his, the Skipjack. Anyway, the lil Moth here is faster than most boats and wayyyy faster than this one, so I sailed in circles and got me a few pics.

There's a big flag

Suddenly there was a big flag waving at me. Huge actually. Hmm... It is good manners to have a flag when sailing, but somehow there's no flag available on the Moth. Not that I ever saw a real Moth with a nation-flag hoisted, hehe. Dingies usually don't do that.

Timemachine

Anyway, I thought it was kinda funny seeing these so very different beasts together. And the little new Moth? Yes, I am figuring it out. So far it's just another fun toy, but isn't that just what a Moth is?

Size matters II

So it's been scaled a bit. The new Moth. I really like that. Here's a picture of a little Moth-talk. Not sure a kilt is the best outfit for Moth-sailing but hey... not my problem.

Moth-talk

It looks pretty good on water too. Err, well not the kilt. The Moth. Plus I fit nicely on the trampoline - feeling I am just the right size, whereas my new Scottish friend felt the boat was now too small for him, teehee.

See... size is important

Strange problem in a virtual world. Click a few buttons and your own personal self has a suitable size. Or better yet: I have shoes that resize on my command! Why not have resizable boats and end the size debate once and for all??

Woohooo

I decided to check it out for real, so here's me taking off from Tradewinds Yacht Club. Still not sure what to think about that experiMental wing-thing, but at least it won't break no matter how I crash. There is one interesting thing about it though: I wonder how much extra speed it would give me compared to a standard sail. Hmm.

Speedy Gonzales 

Speedy it is. It's probably so dangerous we ought to wear helmets like those sissies in the Americas Cup. Duh. Maybe not. We can only fall into the water here. Soft water full of itsu bitsy bits. It probably won't hurt much, and the hull probably won't break into sharp edges either. 

Head on / chicken

So, if the speed is 43 knots, then a head to head crash would be like hitting full stop from 86knots or so? Maybe those helmets are a good idea after all, teehee. You need to react pretty fast here. Sometimes you only have very few seconds from first visual to impact. 

Back

Better get back to safety. It's a fun boat. It's right sized, still too fast, and still too easy, but there's supposed to be an expert mode. I'd better try that, so stay tuned. And the subject? Well, here's Size Matters I. And here's that other Moth for reference.

Another virtual Moth

Just back from 14 days at sea... ahh. The flooded mailbox says "U gotta try that new Moth", so I did...

A moth with wing(s)

Compared to the first virtual Moth this one is a bit more detailed. That's because of the mesh technology not being available back then. Another difference is that this one has a wing. I am not entirely sure I'd prefer a wing in RL. Wings are more expensive and much more fragile than sails.

Moth-cruising

However, in SL that really doesn't matter. There is no damage done no matter how you crash. Yet. Another difference is that this one runs on a modded BWIND engine. This has implications for serious sailors as BWIND has difficulties implementing the full set of environmental quirks needed for a full sail simulator. Currents, waves, shadows and more... See this...

It's working!

However, kudos for taking on a task like this. Building a new boat with different characteristics such as a foiler isn't excactly easy. The new Moth seems to work allright, though the sailing feels a bit shaky. Oh, and it is way too easy to get it up and foiling. The windangle and windspeed doesn't seem to matter much. The balance is also too easy to handle, both in foiling and nonfoiling "mode". Still, this boat deserves more investigation and tests...

Size matters

Xeriko commented that it looks too big. I can only agree, so here's a shot of a real Moth. The person carrying the moth is around 1.80m tall. No, it's not me. I am holding the camera. It is a very small boat that easily fits into a box that easily fits on the roof of even the smallest cars... The real Moth is a single seater. It seems the Dolphin Moth is meant for two people??

Once again, I'd like to stress that this is not about the new Moth being bad or wrong or anything. I haven't given it a thorough testride, but it appears to be great work. It's just a littlebit too big to feel like a real Moth.

PS: OMG! Totally unrelated. Totally amazing :-D

Feeling Mothy

Not entirely sure how, but something made me feel mothy this weekend. Had mothy dreams too. Perhaps it was a combination of lots of sun, cooled redwine and a panoramic view of the North Sea, - or was it the fact that there was a Moth race within a few hours of driving range?

Dreamscape

However, I wasn't on the water; I was in a bikini; First time this year; It was so unbelievably hot, the bikini wanted to go swimming. So somehow I ended up in the North Sea. Brrr. Barely above 10 degrees. Very short swim. The picture..? I cannot take pictures of my dreams, - or can I? This one is close. I am gonna get me one of these boats, because I wanna be able to do this. Takes a little saving, probably a little practicing too, but I am gonna get one. Wonder if it comes in pink. Is Pink Noodle a good name for a Moth? 

Moth spotted in the Blake Sea

I once saw a Moth. In RL that is. I was on a holiday. It was out there, and I was on shore, so no contact. I have had wet dreams ever since. What is it? First up... its real. Check the Moth website. It is the craziest little sailing device I have ever seen. Never mind the AC and their giant plastic bugs. This one is wayyy beyond those silly monsters. The Moth is the essence of being fast, furious and free. Unfortunately, I've never seen a Moth where I live, but then one day...

Noodle to tower: Clear the runway. Now!

I arrived at Tradewinds Yacht Club to get my usual kicks sailing, and what do I see? Yup. You guessed it. A Moth! Just waiting to sail away. Clickety-click and weeeeee.... off I went. It is by far the fastest boat I ever sailed inworld. In a matter of minutes I made it from Tradewinds to the southern parts of Blake. Phew. This boat is a blast, a stinger missile. A CO2 neutral rocketship. I sailed back up to the Atlantic starting line in about thirty seconds, where I met some oldtimers wasting time in prehistoric piles of wood.

Hey look! Are they dead or do they just sit still?

They weren't dead yet. One even asked me about my boat, while I roared past them. I decided to be nice and stopped to say hi. They told me they were training for a race. Yeah right! Like a snail race for grandmas? Told them the action and the fun is at TYC, and then I started the engines again. Gotta tell you... the Blake Sea really is too small for a Moth. In many ways :-D Whatever course you set, you will hit the edge before you can spell "Tradewinds Rocks".

Back home after a crazy flight around the Blake Sea.

Atlantic in the rear mirror. After a few seconds I was south of Schiffsratten, home of the Shelly Fizz. Barely saw their clubhouse before I was gone with the wind. Changed to a northerly course, et voila... In less than a minute I was back home. Does this thing come with a helmet and airbags? I wonder if I can outsail my Apache helicopter, hehe. I am definately gonna get me one of these. SL and RL. Whoa, what a ride.