International Moth Class
| Notation | |
|---|---|
|
|
| Boat dimensions | |
| Length above : | Max. 3,355 m |
| Width above sea level : | Max. 2,250 m |
| Mast height : | Max. 6.250 m |
| Weight (ready to sail): | typically 30-40 kg |
| Sail area | |
| Mainsail : | 8 m² |
| Others | |
| Rigging type: | Cat |
| Yardstick number : | 72 (with foils) and 113 (without foils) |
| Class : | International construction class |
The International Moth Class ( moth ) is a one-handed - sailboat class m with a length of 3.35.
The Motte is a modern and fast cat-rigged single-handed dinghy mainly used for regatta sailing . It is the only single-handed dinghy construction class recognized by the International Sailing Federation (ISAF) . Because their measurement rules allow the designer extensive freedom, modern materials such as carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) established themselves very early on . The hull is only 35 cm wide so that there is little resistance . In order to compensate for the sail pressure from the 8 m² sail , the sailor sits on a 2.25 m wide boom frame. In 2017, the current construction weighed around 30 kg when ready to sail.
Since 2000 wings ( hydrofoils ) developed the hull resistance drastically lower because they lift the hull even at low speed from the water and almost double the boat speed. The short-term achievable top speed is over 35 knots (65 km / h). For comparison: the AC50 hydrofoil boats used at the 35th America's Cup were 15 meters long and had a wing sail of 100 m² on a 23 m long mast. These reached average speeds of around 30 knots, but cost around 10 million US dollars, compared to around 12,000 to 20,000 euros for a new moth in 2017.
history
The modern moth is a result of two very different developments. In 1928, Len Morris designed and built an 11-foot hard-chine scow (boat with a flat bottom and wide, not tapered bow) with cat rigging and a 7.4 m² sail in Melbourne , Australia . The sailing characteristics turned out to be so good that two more boats were built. As a result, a simple set of rules was created to be able to sail regattas. A small fleet of these boats was created with very free rules, in which in principle only the length, width and sail area were limited.
Around the same time, Captain Joel van Sant founded a construction class called American Moth Boat with similar dimensions in North Carolina / USA . These boats were skiffs , so in contrast to the Australian Scows they had a sharp stem. The American sailing magazine The Rudder reported on it and when the Melbourne sailing group heard about it and noticed the similarity of the two boat types, they renamed their class to Moth . Both types of boats developed separately over the next 30 years.
Regardless, some British sailors founded the British Moth Class in the early 30s, which is similar to the American Moth designs but has very restrictive building and construction rules. This class still exists today.
After World War II, interest in other parts of Europe grew in a sailing boat that was easy and cheap to build and easy to transport. In the early 1960s, boats were also designed and built here that conformed to the rules of the American class. A draft of it that Europe -Moth the Belgian Alois Roland was on regattas so successful that it was built in large numbers and the owners in 1963 a unit class established.
American Moth sailors founded the International Moth Class Association in the early years . The aim was to establish uniform rules worldwide in order to be able to hold world championships. The rapprochement between the various continental groups, initiated at a meeting in 1965, was tough and it was not until 1971 that a common set of rules could be drawn up. The class was recognized by the IYRU in 1972 as the International One- Handed Construction Class and was thus potentially capable of participating in the Olympic Games . At that time, fleets existed in the USA, Australia, England , France , Switzerland , Belgium , Germany , Sweden , New Zealand and smaller groups in other European countries. The introduction of the laser dinghy in 1970 caused most US Moth sailors to switch, so that the class there became almost insignificant.
In the years after 1970 the class was determined by the duel between the UK and Australia. After skiffs became more popular in Australia, there was equality of arms in all weather conditions. Central Europeans could only assert themselves in major regattas when the wind was exceptionally light. The boats became lighter and therefore faster. Developments such as the pocket sail and, after 2000, the hydrofoil made the Moth interesting for larger circles.
Although the trend in sailing is developing towards one-class sailing, the International Moth, with its great freedom of construction, is a globally recognized and popular class. Many world class sailors used a foilmoth as a training device.
construction
Even if there were some shipyards in mainland Europe that manufactured moths industrially (and thus from GRP), it was still a boat for do-it-yourselfers. A plywood construction with light frames was predominant .
In the first decades of the class, the construction of the boats was shaped by the prevailing weather conditions in the respective region: Scows in Australia for strong winds, V-ribs with a flat sliding floor in England for medium winds and in continental Europe a pronounced round rib for light wind conditions. That changed at the latest from the 1968 World Cup in Cannes, when a participant strapped an aluminum frame onto his moth, which could bring his body and thus his riding weight to the outside. This fueled the development of narrower, lighter hulls that were suitable for a wider range of wind speeds.
There was a lot of discussion about the legitimacy of these constructions, and some designers responded to the challenge by constructing narrower hulls with maximally wide floats on the sides. But when the exercise frames were recognized, they soon became indispensable in designing fast moths.
Boats were soon developed that had a waterline width of only 35 cm. Such narrow hulls had a serious disadvantage: there was a lack of buoyancy at the bow on open and downwind courses in order to prevent forward capsizing in gusty or strong winds. The high rig and the short hull had hardly any reserves for such conditions. After initial attempts with small wings on the bow, the T-Foil rudder, which is still in use today, prevailed, a rudder that is equipped at the lower end with a horizontal wing with a slight angle of attack, or that generates asymmetrically shaped downforce when driving ahead . As a result, the rudder with the wing pulls the boat stern downwards if it threatens to submerge in front. Another positive effect was that the pitching movements in short waves were softened, which enabled the current to remain on the sail for a longer period, especially in the upper area - and thus improved sailing performance.
The next logical step was to improve the hull above water. The foredeck disappeared and the sides were simply bent together at the top. Only in the support area of the frames, which were soon also made of KFK, was the fuselage a little wider to alleviate the load on the tubes. By the year 2000, the fuselage construction was so mature that only minor changes have been made to this day.
The narrower hulls were simpler and easier to build and when modern materials such as aramid and carbon fibers became affordable for amateurs in the 1980s and 1990s , the hull weight dropped to less than 10kg. When KFK masts were also able to establish themselves, a ready-to-sail moth therefore weighed no more than 30 kg. Together with sails made of biaxially oriented polyester film ("Mylar") and other advanced materials, the Moth became - in terms of length - an extremely fast sailing boat. For better aerodynamics and more propulsive power, pocket sails, such as those used in windsurfing for decades, have become increasingly popular . These are not drawn into a rail on the aft edge of the mast , but rather slipped over the mast. In order to be able to control this bending behavior, stages are still used, which makes setting the sail and mast in the boat more difficult, but is accepted for better performance of the rig .
From 2000, the experiments with wings began , which were approved after extensive discussion within the class. With the ability to lift the entire hull far out of the water, a new era began not only in moth sailing. The achievable speeds could almost be doubled on all courses. Moths equipped with sophisticated adjustment mechanisms and tried and tested airfoil profiles were manageable by any experienced moth sailor and spread quickly. The published spectacular images and speeds attracted more and more sailors, especially from the professional camp. From 2005 onwards, major events such as the European and World Championships were dominated by sailors who earned their money in regattas such as the Volvo Ocean Race or America's Cup . Many Olympic participants, especially from the skiff classes like 49ers , switched to the Moth, even if mostly only for the big events.
Construction
Since the beginning of the 21st century, modern technology has been essential for a successful moth in regattas. In order to ensure the maximum strength of the hulls and wings, unidirectional fabrics made of KFK are applied to cores made of honeycomb or foam material. The matrix is usually epoxy resin , which is injected between the carbon fibers. A somewhat less complex process is the use of so-called prepregs - fiber fabrics or scrims pre-soaked with a matrix - which cure under pressure and heat. The pressure is generated by a vacuum pump and the heat treatment takes place in an oven.
Nowadays, the masts are also made of KFK and bending characteristics tailored to the sailor's weight are available. If they used to have an aerodynamic profile, they are now more rounded. The sails are brought into the desired shape with continuous battens, which are supported by V-shaped molded parts on the mast (camber inducer).
market
With a few exceptions, the Moth class was a do-it-yourself class in the early years up to the 1970s. Series boats were only made by small shipyards. Only in the new millennium, when the use of the most modern materials (carbon and aramid fibers) and manufacturing processes for plastics (vacuum process, autoclave ) became more complex, did the market also become interesting for larger shipyards. Special mention should be made of McConaghy in Australia who build the “Mach II” type designed by the designer Andrew McDougall. In England, smaller shipyards such as McGuire Boats ("Exocet") and Aardvark Racing ("Ninja") are successful.
Waszp
Since a competitive, ready-to-sail moth costs around 20,000 euros these days (2017), Andrew McDougall developed the "Waszp", a boat designed according to the rules of the class, which is cheaper to manufacture by using aluminum instead of KFK components. The aim is to establish a standard class. But the Waszp is surveyable according to the rules of the International Moth and can therefore take part in regattas of the class. The boat weighs 48 kg and can reach speeds of over 25 knots.
Trivia
The late King of Thailand Bhumipol designed, built, and sailed his own moth in the 1960s.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Yardstick 2015, PDF page 3 (www.kreuzer-abteilung.org) ( Memento of the original from March 21, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ according to imoth.de - What is a moth? , accessed August 20, 2007
- ↑ http://sailinganarchy.com/2014/05/14/thats-the-goss/ , accessed December 1, 2017
- ↑ The $ 10 Million Boat That Will Win the America's Cup, https://www.outsideonline.com/2083841/10-million-boat-will-win-americas-cup , accessed December 1, 2017
- ↑ Yacht, July 2015: http://www.yacht.de/yachten_jollen/neue_boote/waszp-foilen-fuer-jedermann/a99555.html , accessed December 1, 2017
- ↑ Several volumes of the English yearbooks, which offer vast amounts of information about the period between 1960 and 1980: Archived copy ( Memento of the original dated December 2, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed December 1, 2017
- ↑ Australian beginnings: http://www.victorianclassicdinghynetwork.org/moth , accessed December 1, 2017
- ↑ American beginnings: https://maineboats.com/print/issue-133/twomoths , English, accessed on December 1, 2017
- ↑ British Moth: http://www.britishmoth.co.uk/about-the-class/ , English, accessed December 1, 2017
- ↑ IMCA-UK-Yearbook-1980.pdf . In: Google Docs . ( google.com [accessed December 3, 2017]).
- ↑ IMCA: See e.g. B. in the IMCA yearbook 1992. Retrieved on December 3, 2017 (English).
- ↑ Doug Bird: Design Comparison ... page 12f. In: IMCA Yearbook 2000. IMCA UK, 2000, accessed on December 3, 2017 (English).
- ↑ The Worlds 2000. In: IMCA Yearbook 2000, page 16. IMCA UK, 2000, accessed on December 3, 2017 (English).
- ↑ Exoxet: Archived copy ( Memento of the original dated December 2, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed December 1, 2017
- ↑ Aardvark: http://www.aardvarkracing.co.uk , accessed December 1, 2017
- ↑ Dave Reed: Best One Design: Waszp. In: SailingWorld.com. December 19, 2016, accessed December 3, 2017 .
- ↑ WASZP Games - Final Countdown ... In: WASZP.com. Retrieved December 3, 2017 .
- ^ King of the seas: HM changed the face of Thai sailing. In: nationmultimedia.com. October 17, 2016, accessed December 1, 2017 .
