Inquiry on Classic Moths

Surprise, surprise, surprise ..... someone other than my COF (circle of friends) is reading my blog. Emil K. sent me this inquiry.

I found your blog while looking for information on classic Moths,
particularly the Mistral Try-umph design. Admittedly, I'm new to
sailing but I am a former kayak and canoe instructor so it can't be
too bad, right? I live in Washington, DC and have limited storage
space. I've been considering all types of boats, frm Lasers to
Hampton one-designs to Windmills. While looking for a cheaper yet
stylish alternative to the Truc/CrossCurrents 12 , I came upon these
unique classic moths.

Having contacted CMBA, I think I'll head out sometime soon to the
nether regions of Annapolis and beyond look at the the different boat
types and decide on my needs. However, it keeps coming back to the
Try-Umph. If you have specific information on that or similar designs,
have a boat for sale of know of one under $1000 full fitted, I'm open
to any ideas.

The Classic Moth is a development class. We had 14 different designs or modifications of designs at this years nationals, sailing in three different divisions. It can all be a bit confusing when one is looking to get into the Classic Moth class .... no one-design hull shape here .... but the advantage is you can find a Classic Moth design that fits your sailing needs. My reply to Emil K;

Emil,

Great to get your email.

I took a look at the CrossCurrents 12 to get an idea what other boat
you are looking at.

The main question when looking at Classic Moths is your weight. If you want to race competitively in Classic Moths, a weight under 180 lbs.is desireable. If you are over 180 lbs, we have Classic Moth designs to accommodate you, but you probably won't win the nationals or place in the top five. If you are a heavy weight and winning is not your bag, we welcome everybody. We even have separate divisions at the nationals for older designs.

The Mistral design is a very deep V, extremely floppy at rest (and
sailing), the fastest Classic Moth design going at present, not the
ideal boat for beginners unless you have a very strong stubborn streak at mastering a craft despite swimming. The Mistral hull shape is probably the best weight carrier design out there because of it's deep rocker

The closest Moth design to the CrossCurrents12 is either an Europe
dinghy or a Shelly dinghy. Europe dinghies are much easier to find
since they lost Olympic status. Classic Mothists are slowly gathering
up a collection of Europe dinghies. The Shelly dinghy is harder to
find but just as competitive. A Shelly from the Charlestown SC was
just recently available but I'm not sure at the boats current status.

When I get motivated, I may do a design review of Classic Moth's on this blog. Until then, refer back to some of my Slideshows . George A. informs me that the South Carolina Shelly has been sold. There is a Shelly for sale in Delaware (email Bill .....wpb1210 (with our friends at) yahoo.com, and Tippy, the Gen1 winner at this years Nationals just came up for sale.

Some pictures of the Mistral design.

First, Craig Saunders beautiful home built, all varnished Mistral. Note the circular transom. No form stability here!



Add a picture of Derek Dudinsky's Mousetrap (which is a modified Mistral with a wider transom). Sitting on the dolly you can see the radical V shape of the hull. Not a whole lot of hull in the water!



Double click on the images to get a higher resolution picture.