Sunday, September 30, 2007

Los Angeles Moth Fleet - A Majority of One


Somebody once said (not sure just who) that Democracy is the recurring illusion that more than half of the people are right more than half of the time. On days like today you have to wonder. A bunch of kiteboarders showed up at Cat Beach in Long Beach Harbor, played around for awhile, decided there wasn't enough wind to have any fun, and went home. I arrived and rigged my moth at about 4pm, just as everyone was leaving. Some kite guys came over to ask me what my boat was, and they seemed genuinely surprised that I could go out in 8-12 knots of breeze and have a good time. The Moth may not be for everyone because it is fragile, difficult to sail, and sort of expensive compared to kiteboards and windsurfers, and the Moth's foil system may be pretty crude, but it seems unique among fast wind toys in that it is fun in the moderate stuff - not just when it is blowing old boots! In conditions like today, I'm hard pressed to think of a boat I'd rather be sailing, but then that's why I sail a Moth I suppose! Just figuring out how low you can soak it before falling off is completely challenging and interesting, at least for a novice like me. Some of the windsurfing guys were complaining about the lack of wind also - none of them were sailing. This seems strange, because I am pretty sure they can hoist 10 or 11sqm of sail on those things, which should be plenty of sail to have a lot of fun even when it is light. I guess it's true what they say - eventually you get used to any amount of speed.