Got to love a Moth, and foiling Moth’s are even more awesome. I was part of the rescue squad at Grafham Water in the Uk from 1990 to 2015 and loved seeing the development of these until we got to foiling. I remember being at the wing mark on an open regatta and there were 2 foiling Moths entered-seeing them tearing down to the mark with great speed and virtually no sound was amazing. It particularly appealed since being a competition windsurfer speed was the thing-there was even one guy who was sailing an International Canoe with foils…….
Great video. Would be cool to see these experienced moth sailors performing more advanced boat handling skills, like tacking and gybing while foiling. Do you have any B roll footage to share?
Beautiful cinematography! Shows the elegance of this boats literally floating over the water by some really accomplished sailors who make it look effortless!
I just now realized we could have put a hydrofoil on a crew rowing boat back when I was doing it in school. That would have been epic. Never thought of it.
Love foiling in perfect conditions, hate foiling when there is too little wind and/or seaweed. There is no real solution for seaweed as far as my research can tell.
Got to be the most developed class in history right back to the 1930s always pushing the innovation boundary These look like a real blast for experience helms
As an ex-Mothie and foil owner, I have to say that I hate the arrogant "future of sailing" slogan. Moths and foilers are fantastic but the idea that there is only one future for the sport is a disgusting slur on other classes. The foiling boat classes are wonderful but they are a tiny niche that is growing very, very slowly if at all. To piss all over every other type with a slogan that implies that there is only one future, and that is foiling, is rude and arrogant and makes me ashamed to have a foil.
It's called a "wand" in the moth class, it is what is controlling the flight height through a pushrod and gearing system to a flap on the trailing edge of the main foil (placed on the centerboard).
does that rod on the front control the pitch of the foil? I've always wondered how the boat "knows" how much lift to generate with a single foil - or anything without a stepped foil or something like that where part of the lift would literally come out of the water and stop generating (meaningful) lift.
Precisely that. The rod is wired into the flanges on the back of the foils, just like an aeroplane's wing flaps. I think there is a bit of spring/mass dampening as well to attentuate the effects of waves, otherwise the foils would oscillate a load!
Can someone explain the purpose of the thing that looks like a rope hanging from the very front of the boat? It seems to drag into the water with something hanging from it… Is this some sort of gauge to measure proper height out of the water?
Great video. Can someone explain the function of the rod at the front of the boat that seems to be sensing the height above the water? How does it work?
My impression is that is adjusts the angle of attack of the front foil to control the flying height. Keeping the boat relatively level with the fixed foil on the rudder. Maybe someone else can chime in with more detail or a correction of my understanding of its function.
I was wondering too and Googled it. It's called a sensor wand and is directly connected, mechanically, to the first foil to swing it forward to raise or backward to lower the boat. Clever!
I want to know that too, one possibility is it adjusts foil incidence in order to keep the boat level - preventing the front foil diving deep or jumping out of the water. So not only to indicate depth but also to auto correct it
No Luke it does not submerge it has a float on the end so as the boat gets closer to the water it hinges up hence inducing more flap on the foil but like I’ve mentioned the sensitivity can be adjusted
I was wondering too and Googled it. It's called a sensor wand and is directly connected, mechanically, to the first foil to swing it forward to raise or backward to lower the boat. Clever!
They definitely do tack and jibe. The thing on the front of the bow is called a wand. It senses the hight of the water and then via a flap on the main foil tells the boat how high to fly.
I believe it controls the pitch of the boat. I think there is a little hydroplane that steers the boat up and down that receives input from that rod with the float on it.
Typically called the wand. It's a rod with a float on the end. It controls the amount of lift generated by the foil. When the wand is parallel to the water, when the hull is sitting in the water, the foil angle is set for maximum lift. As the hull comes out of the water, the angle of the wand/foil change to decrease drag.
@@mrmonkeboy It's a cam and pulley affair. There's lots of adjustability to get the boat to preform optimally for conditions. Like you wouldn't want the flap on the foil to be bouncing up and down 1:1 with the wand bouncing off wave peaks.
