John Z: Classic Moth Construction Progress, a Modified Mistral Emerges

Just up the road from me, Classic Mothist John Z is steadily making progress on on his modified Mistral Classic Moth. This Mistral is a bend-em-up tortured plywood construction using 3 mm. ply throughout. I decided to pop over to take some photos as John is about ready to slap some decks on this Moth. I wanted some pictures that highlighted the internal structure of a racing Classic Moth.

A racing Moth makes do with three bulkheads, one about 610mm (two feet) from the transom, another at the aft end of the daggerboard trunk (about 1520-1650 mm or 60-65" from the transom) and the final one at the forward end of the daggerboard trunk (this one is angled as called out for in the Mistral plans). You can see the inboard construction of the seat tanks - John likes building his out of flat plywood sections.

Two bow-on shots that show the mast structure. John is putting in a freestanding mast and has built a carbon mast tube that extends to the keelson. There is not much structure up forward in these boats.

Proud builder. John also builds the ultalight F1 rubber-band powered free-flight model airplanes, stored in the special box that hangs on the back wall in this photo (you may have spotted some other model plane parts scattered around his work room).

Lest you think these Classic Moths are so light to be throwaways after a couple of years - not so. Johns' current Mistral is fourteen years old, Joe Bousquet's National Champion is even older. You do seem to have to replace a deck or two every so often but the structure is adequate for continual racing abuse.

Fellow blogger George A. has been reporting on John's Mistral build with some regularity over the last year and it would be worth jumping over to George's blog and reading several posts.

The Olympic 49'er: Continuing the Krashboombang

The 49'er, the two-man Olympic skiff, is not an easy dinghy to master; which is as it should be for an Olympic class. Hence, great 49'er "crash and burn" videos keep surfacing periodically, enough to keep the blogmeister thoroughly entertained. (I sailed on a 49'er once, light air, and I was limited to crew. It was a short sail and I remember how skinny the spin halyard was and my only recollection was how painful it was to pull the asymmetric in and out of the launcher.)

In the following video, I hate it when the forward hand just can't stay glued to the boat. It makes everything else that much more difficult.


Justus Schmidt - Max Boehme Flying 49er from Valencia Sailing on Vimeo.

One of the problems....the 49'er just lulls you in, blasting along, Joe Cool, "Hey we got this thing under control!" and Whap! Splat!


Pitchpole - Palma Style from Ferguson Sailing on Vimeo.

And who can forget the mother of all 49'er "Down the mine" videos", I reintroduce the antics from the Medal Race of the Qingdao 2008 Olympics. Color commentary is in, I think, Danish.

Mario Scuderi: Wooden boat restoration in New Zealand

I have referred to myself as a wood butcher in my boatbuilding endeavors; with some truth. My work is never pretty and it is good that it is on such a small scale. Some might say it is quick and dirty, but then again, my boatbuilding is never quick. Let's reframe my boatbuilding process as slow and, when complete, functional.

I do, however, enjoy watching videos of true craftsman restoring or building wooden boats. This one is particularly fascinating to watch. Mario Scuderi is a transplanted Italian in New Zealand, restoring the old New Zealand yachts, particularly the ones by the Logan's and Bailey's. Enjoy his quiet and understated explanation of what he does and why he does it in our mass-produced world.



About Passion from Johannes Straßner on Vimeo.

Shout out for the U.S. Classic Moth Scene

Brit sailing writer and marine historian, David Henshall, has written an article for Yachts and Yachting online about the state of classic dinghy racing in the U.K. About 2/3's the way into the article, David gives a nod to our Classic Moth scene in the U.S. (as well as the International 14 and 505).

Click here to read David's interesting article.

A Earwigoagin TOH goes out to Mr. Henshall.

The Transoms of Gulfport, 2014

From the 2014 Classic Moth Midwinters in Gulfport FL., held the end of February, John Z. sent over this picture of two Classic Moths before being unloaded. On the left we have the very ample "tush" of the Savannah Wedge compared to, on the right, the petite "derriere" of the Mistral design. To each their own.

I must admit, throwing the 11' Classic Moth in the back bed of a pick-up truck is very "Amurican", but when you have the truck. and you have the Moth, who cares about roof racks or trailers.

I love the name of the Savannah Wedge, Binday Dundat. For a blog with a name that is a phonic play on a phrase, this is a cosmic connection. Tip of the hat to John Siegling, owner of Binday Dundat. John raced Moths as a teenager, was one of the original founders of the University of Charleston Sailing Team in the 1960's, got out of dinghies and sailing after college, and now, 50 years on, has returned to the class of his youth.

More Classic Moth transoms can be found here.

Video from Gippsland Y.C Wooden Dinghy Regatta Available

This probably relates to those Australian readers of Earwigoagin but for those who got a quick sneak preview of the video of the Australian Wooden Dinghy Regatta, we could tell it was entertaining, informative, and very professionally done. Well worth the money if you have an interest in classic sailing dinghies.The video is now available as a DVD or download over here, courtesy of Drift Media.

My post on the regatta can be read here.

Header Photo: Interclub Dinghies off the Naval Academy Seawall

Interclub Dinghies coming up the last windward leg during their mid-winters - a true mid-winter regatta - held off Annapolis the end of January. A frigid frostbite regatta that proved to me that the Interclub is probably one of the best dinghies when you would want to sail in sub-freezing temperatures.