2011 Classic Moth Midwinters; Those Cheeky Bastards, Another Frankenboat!

My post about Classic Mothists converting Lasers to Moths elicited from the blogshpere either horror, bemusement, or a "Wow, that's kind of neat" (the latter comment mostly found among fellow Classic Mothists). And then at the 2010 Classic Moth Nationals, Len Parker did another Frankenboat, a MiniFish conversion to a Classic Moth. After all this, I was wondering what the class could do for an encore. Turns out, I didn't have to worry.

Patrick Burger showed up at the Gulfport Midwinters with a Classic Moth that he had hacked out of an older wooden Fireball hull. Leaving the Fireball bow intact, Patrick had chopped the back 5 feet off, bent the topsides in so he could use the existing Fireball transom, took the bubble foredeck off and redecked it flat (unfortunately in 1/4" ply so it was heavy), and added a 1/2 deck around the daggerboard trunk. Patrick recycled damn near everything; the daggerboard and rudder were from the original Fireball, the mast from the original Fireball, and the dolly from the original Fireball.

For the regatta, Patrick didn't have much success racing it as a Classic Moth; the Mothball was too blunt, with too short a waterline, and, in 1/4 inch ply, too heavy, but it was a very credible sailing dinghy. Patrick took it out for a test sail on a breezy Friday and had a great time blasting back and forth.

Sometimes the creativity in this Classic Moth crowd just blows me away!

The following pics were taken by John Z, Amy Linton, and Elisabeth Albaugh.

Here is what a normal Fireball sailing dinghy looks like..........



And now, presenting another Classic Moth Frankenboat, the MothBall..............



Your blogmeister, Patrick, and Rod Koch admiring the "balls" it took to mashup a Fireball into a Classic Moth..........



Mash up artist, Patrick Burger with his Mothball creation.........



Patrick sailing his Mothball upwind in a straight on shot......



Patrick, upwind and heeled, showing the distinctive double chine Fireball shape.......



The Mothball downwind.........



Patrick rounding the leeward mark.........



As an aside, Patrick did walk away with an award at the Midwinters. He copped himself the "Persistence Award"; awarded to the person with the worst overall result after finishing all the races. Don't snicker, your blogmeister is a previous recipient of this award which remains prominently displayed to this very day!