Wednesday, February 1, 2012

New MOORESHEET Out Now!

We've been bad about updating this blog. Primarily because all we've been doing is boatwork, and it's just not much fun to write about.

But, you can download the latest MOORESHEET and read all about it as well as other fun PNW Moore 24 stuff, click on the photo to check it out:


Thursday, December 15, 2011

Moore 24 NW Newsletter

Turns out when your wife ends up the NW Fleet Captain, it's expected that you will contribute too. Should have thought about that before I let Doug talk Julia into taking on the job.

My contribution so far has been to take on the role of editor for the NW fleet newsletter. Our first issue is available here:

http://nw.moore24.org/wordpress/?page_id=5


Friday, November 11, 2011

Things we want to do.

Interestingly, we seem to get asked a lot 'what we want to do' with the Moore. Now it is entirely possible we are getting this question because people have seen what it looks like as we stumble around the race course, and they are hoping that there is something additional that inspired our purchase of the boat. Really for us we just wanted (and got!) a boat that is super fun to sail, that we can learn a ton from, and that we can go fast(er) on. Seriously, the Moore 24 has got to be one of the best boats ever built.

That being said, it's Friday and nasty out, so here's a list of some events/things we hope to do someday on Morosaurus (in no particular order):

- Northern Century
- Trailer to the Sea of Cortez
- Trailer to Tahoe
- Cruise the Puget Sound
- Coastal Cup
- Port Townsend Dash
- The Gorge!
- Break 16.6 kts
- Have an excuse to own a sweet van
- Race to the Straits
- Delta Ditch Run
- Doublehanded Farallones
- Scare our friends who sail cruising boats

We'll probably add to this as we go. If you've got any good suggestions to add to the list let us know!

Morosaurus in the 2011 PSSC Regatta (many more pics here)

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

The lizard can sail!

It was a little scary for us in buying an older one-design boat that maybe, for some strange combination of boatyard karma's the thing just wouldn't go like she should. Thankfully we can put that particular concern to rest. We did our first race (doublehanded) on the good ship Morosaurus, and the little Moore can move!

We didn't have a one-design start, but there were 3 other Moore's in the race, so we got a chance to compare our boatspeed to the fleet. All in all we were very happy. At times we were off the pace (and point) but at other times we were consistent with the other boats. We were the problem, not the boat, and that's a fine starting point. We also had a wide variety of conditions over the weekend, from flat flat calm to a ripping frontal system, which was really helpful for us to learn about the boat.

We got lucky on Saturday and managed to catch a private puff of wind and current to propel us across the finish line as the first Moore to finish. Thankfully this came just before the turn of the tides, and the rest of the fleet was stuck yards from the finish line for an hour! We spent the night aboard, getting leaked on and sleeping fitfully as halyards slapped and we nervously anticipated doublehanding in our first windy race conditions.

On Sunday the big wind downwind day we got a good start, and were second Moore for 99% of the race. As we neared the finish we were absolutely screaming downwind in the biggest breeze we've personally seen on a Moore, but it wasn't nearly enough as the maniacs on Morjito found another gear and walked by us like we were standing still. Not knowing the boat well enough yet, we thought 'perhaps if we heat it up a little bit we too will go faster.' Nope, instead we rounded up (erh twice) within yards of the finish as Morjito flew by us, leaving us as the third Moore. The race committee thanked us as we finished, I assume for not hitting them. Couldn't be happier though, we had a great time, learned a ton, hit the first Morosaurus boatspeed record (13.1 kts doublehanded!), and in the end were just plain outsailed.

Beers before noon as we reached back across the sound to Shilshole. Julia drove both days and kicked ass. She cemented her place as driver when on Sunday in the big breeze I let my attention stray and she politely told me to 'turn the $#!& around and trim!'.

3rd in our division and 4th overall.

It's sorta wrong how much I love this boat.

Here's another write-up:
http://www.pressure-drop.us/forums/content.php?1803-Challenging-Bainbridge

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Easy Sailing

One of the reasons we wanted to move to a small boat (from our old cruising boat: svpisces.blogspot.com) was how easy a small boat is to manage, and hence how much more likely you are to actually go sailing.

We've been having a great time doing just that, sailing a bunch just the two of us, as well as with our friends from sv Hello World (who we hope to enlist as crew for some upcoming races).




In addition to an awesome boatwarming BBQ, we sailed this last weekend over to Eagle Harbor on Bainbridge, and spent the night aboard. Surprisingly dry and comfortable aboard, and it was so great to be able to sail in and out of a new-to-us marina without even a little bit of an adrenaline bump. In fact, we haven't yet had to start the outboard. We are seriously considering downsizing from the current 5hp to a 2hp to get the weight off the stern, as I imagine that it would only be in flat flat calm that we would need to power, in which case a 2hp ought to do the job.