So there is finally a bit of a hint about this mystery new builder in the UK mentioned in a previous Mothcast.
Word is that Simon Maguire (builder of the M4 foiler from a few years back) has a Moth design on the go. Rumours of a tie in with Ovington abound and I wouldn't be surprised with at least one former Mothie working there. They are aiming to have a boat together in March apparently so would reckon on seeing one at the London Dinghy show.
It will be interesting to see what isolated development can bring to the table and whether they manage to persuade any top jockeys into a boat. If the last year has taught me anything, you can have the best boat in the world but it doesn't mean anything unless you get the results to prove it....
The other entertaining rumour heard at the weekend was that the new small rudder Amac was using in Australia came about after a small collision with a rock! No idea if there is much truth in that but stranger things have happened!
If what you hear is true, it seems to be remarkably nieve to do things in secret. I think it would be true to say that the best Moth designs have all been based on years of toil and bitter experience. This is certainly true of the Ninja and the Mach2. What I have learnt so far is that you should always look at the pedigree and experience of the designer/builder when buying a Moth. No-one is going to come up with a radical secret new design that will work straight out of the box. After perhaps a year of testing it might get somewhere otherwise its a no no.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the sentiment, but smart design always tends to find a way to work.
ReplyDeleteKevin's design work on the Ninja was pretty much from scratch with no prior Moth design credentials. Admittedly I've got a few years of build experience to call on but the design was all new...
Small rock indeed! Let's not forget that Amac still works within the windsurfing industry, and knows the different lift and control benefits of a straight deep fin skeg for race boards in light and medium winds, and slightly smaller more swept skegs for high breeze and manouverability. After all, being a speed board champion, he knows what size and swept foils do! So, I think it likely it won't be long before we all have a series of different bolt on hortzontal foils in our quiver for different conditions!
ReplyDeleteOk, maybe it was a big rock...
ReplyDeleteI'm sure people will end up with multiple foils but I can guarantee you will probably have the wrong one on for some reason or another!
It was a big rock
ReplyDelete