Moth on Foils: 35.9 knots(41.29 mph)

Good posts, Doug and Chris. The problem, I believe, is with the Olympics - not sailing. In an ideal world, the Olympics would be seen as an occasion when the worlds elite competitors get together to find who is the best. This has nothing to do with TV audiences, or money, or public interest. Unfortunately, since LA 1984, the IOC and host cities have realised there is good money to be made staging the games. Obviously, the greater the numbers of people watching, the more money can be made. This leads to a conflict of interest for the sports concerned. For various reasons, most sports want to be in the Olympics. The Olympics, now run as a business, only wants sports that will make them money. So the sports come under pressure to adapt, so that they become more televisual. However, the 'adapted' sport, whilst better for telly, is not as much fun to actually do, and is not representitive of the sport it is supposed to showcase.
There is little doubt in my mind that if increasing viewing figures is the aim, Tom Ehman is spot on. You need the very best sailors, sailing a format that is understandable. What boats they sail is of secondary importance. Take the World Match Tour. That is the only sailing I watch on telly, and its pretty good. At each event they seem to sail a different type of boat, but it makes no difference. The races are short, its easy to see who's winning and there is no chance of an of-the-water protest affecting the outcome.
My only reservation is that match racing does not represent the type of sailing that the vast majority of us do. In an ideal world, we would shove two fingers up at the IOC and pick events/formats/boats that we feel confident will allow the best sailors in the world to win, rather than make the most money. The unfortunate reality is that sailing really needs to be in the Olympics, and that fleet racing is not good TV, whatever boat is sailed.

Anyway, I seem to have taken the thread off topic a bit, for which I apologise. Foiling moths look great and are undoubtedly a breakthrough in sailboat design. They are better to watch than Finns. But I don't think they should be an Olymic Class (yet).

I doubt whether an internet broadcast would get enough viewers to make it pay. Its a nice idea, and maybe in time it would be possible. But for now, the commercial realities must prevail. Don't get me wrong, I don't want to change sailing, I would rather change the Olympics, but I know which is more likely to happen...

 

Daily Sail from Scuttlebutt/ Foiling Tack

THIS YEAR THE FOILING GYBE, NEXT YEAR THE FOILING TACK Excerpts from TheDailySail's feature article:
Now that Moths are clocking peak speeds in the mid to high 20s (reports of a record 30+ knot boat speed, turned out to be false thanks to a GPS error), a lot is being asked of the foils to make them perform efficiently over a 6-25 knot range.
Once the basics of Moth sailing (ie keeping the boat upright) have been mastered, then winning seems to be down to a combination of who can remain foiling longest and who can sail upwind highest - and downwind the lowest.
Hence we have the 'Veal heel' where Moth foilers sail upwind with the whole boat heeled over to weather much like a sailboard.
The manoeuvre that even the likes of [World Champion Simon Payne and National champion Sam Pascoe] have yet to master is the airborne tack. Payne claims to have achieved this twice, but by accident. "If I knew how to do it I would do more!" quips Payne. "I think it was about keeping the boat flat and steering it through the tack. I didn't do it quickly. I was going pretty quick and steered through it and was able to keep the boat dead flat and then get forward and crack the main on."
Full article at http://www.thedailysail.com

 

XS Racing

New (to me) website/organization for "High Performance Sailors":
XSRacing
Address:http://www.xsracing.org/
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Thanks to Rob Denney for calling it to my attention.

 

Moth on Foils/ Aussie Nationals

Check out this thread and particularly post #8 about the Nationals:
California Foiler Moth - Sailing Anarchy Forums
Address:http://www.sailinganarchy.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=46330&pid=997232&st=0&
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Also see the "Moth Design Blog":

Address:http://web.mac.com/john_gilmour/iWeb/mysite/Moth Design Blog/Moth Design Blog.html Changed:7:09 AM on Wednesday, December 27, 2006
+++++++++++++++++++++++++
Congratulations to Rohan Veal for winning his fourth Nationals despite foil problems. In one incident he was blasting along and hit a half meter long fish-with no damage(to the foils)- and still won the race.

 

Bladerider testing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phIJLz4_Qcs

 

Moth on Foils / Foils dot org!

For those interested in hydrofoils the International Hydrofoil Society(www.foils.org) is
a great source of info. The newest issue of their Newsletter has a two page article about boatdesign.net forum member and hydrofoil builder John Ilett(www.fastacraft.com) with a picture of him standing next to the Aussie 18 foils he supplied to Thomas Jundt of Switzerland(see thread this forum). Big set of foils!
Also a short blurb on Rohan's arrival at the Annapolis boatshow....
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1/22/07 Seethe Multihulls forum:Hydroptere just reached 46.5 knots(!) beating Finian Maynard for the Nautical Mile record. Just a little more and a multifoiler will hold the absolute speed sailing record!

 

Dont know if everyone has seen this yet? It is new to me.

http://seasailsurf.com/seasailsurf/actu/spip.php?breve4451

 

Moth on Foils-GPS Speed League

From the UK Moth site:
Gps Speed League
Address:http://www.int-moth.org.uk/GpsSpeedLeague/GpsSpeedLeague.htm Changed:5:03 AM on Monday, January 22, 2007

 

Moth on Foils!

There has been some discussion on whether or not the foiler Moth is building the Moth class. Well, here is proof that the class is growing in the UK as a direct result of flying the Moth:
Contacts
Address:http://www.int-moth.org.uk/ClassInfoSP.htm Changed:4:47 AM on Tuesday, February 27, 2007

 

WOW! After two years with 9 new boats each, 2006 sees 12 new boats! That's one a month! 12 new boats in all of the UK! Yessir, the foiling Moth is a revolution!

I hope someone gears up to produce some boats to meet this huge demand! Aren't there 3 production foilers? They must be straining to produce 4 boats each every year.

Has anyone seen my string? I need to put more spin on this top ...

 

Moth on Foils

At a time when most dinghies are declining the most difficult boat to sail under 20' is bulding numbers-and that with the largest manufacturer still not on line. I think it's great for the UK guys and the same thing is happening in other areas of the world as well.
The Moth is no Peoples Foiler but it has, without a doubt, started a revolution in sailing technology. The bi-foil technology can and will be applied to monohulls of any size as well as to multihulls designed specifically for it.
Be patient, Mr. Hough-technological revolutions take time..

 

You do have to contrast this with the growth of the Laser SB3, which in the same time frame has become the biggest class at Cowes Week with over 100 boats expected this year. And the SB3 markets itself as simple, easy, no grunt, no hiking, no trapeze, low sheet loads, low hassle crewing, etc, etc.

If, as expected, the SB3 does become the most popular, it will end the reign of the XOD class as top dog, which owes its popularity and longevity since 1911 on adapting to change without ever becoming too technical or over demanding. Old boats remain competitive, the racing remains close and they field racing fleets the size of which are unheard of in Moth circles.

I can guarantee more effort (and money) is being spent on research for the Metre rule centenary races this summer than has even been spent on foiling moths. And that's for a load of Dodo racing.

 

It's great to see the Moth doing well in the UK.

But I must take issue with your points. Those are UK figures, and in the UK most dinghies are NOT declining as you claim. Far from it - the Yachts and Yachting figures of national title attendances* shows that counting all classes of boat, overall national title attendance has climbed 20% since 1998. A steady 20% increase is NOT a decline, no matter how you measure it.

For comparison, there were about 40 new Contenders, 43 new GP14s (overwhelmingly a UK class) and 3181 Lasers built worldwide last year.

Technological revolutions in sailing do not always take time; after all, one of the characteristics of a "revolution" is that it doesn't take too long! to recap -

Seven years after it was launched, the Laser had a fleet of over 52,000 boats.

Seven years after the first Windsurfer was launched, there were well over 150,000 boards launched per year and in Europe the sport was doubling each year (Windsurfer Magazine, 1981). By 1985 there were 1 million boards sold each year.

About 10+ years after the first commercially-viable kitesurfer was launched, there were about 200,000 kitesurfers.

You could call the J/24 revolutionary - there were about 350 built per year initially.

So the major "revolutions" in their 7th year seem to create about 350 yachts, 7,000 dinghies, 150,000 boards or 20,000+ kites per annum. If (as you say) the foiler revolution has started, it has a lot of catching up to do to equal the previous revolutions.


*not a perfect guide, but perhaps the best available

 

I think the foiler Moth is sufficiently different to anything else that it will attract a committed, loyal, but niche sailor from other classes. But the acceptance of foils has seen as many (if not more) people leave the class as join it. In time, I would expect that trend to reverse - more people joining the class than leaving - but it will always be a niche boat with a small market share. It almost certainly won't attract non-sailors to the sport - the learning curve is just too steep.
Dinghy sailing is doing well over here, with attendance at National Championships increasing consistently over the last 10 years. Moth attendance is WAY down on what it was in the 80's, when it was one of the most popular classes around (was it a co-incidence that the boats were wider and easier to sail?). Now other smallish singlehanders like the Solo, Streaker, Laser Radial, Blaze etc all get over 50 boats at the Nationals ( I think the Moth had about 19 this year, but I don't have the figures to hand). None of these are in any way radical (except perhaps the Blaze, which has wings and is similar to a cheaply built, overgrown, 80's Moth).

PS I can't believe 43 people would buy a new GP14?!

 

You're obviously not a member of Royal Windermere, are you?