2022 Classic Moth Midwinters

Back again, at least for the moment. Been off keeping myself amused with various non-sailing, non-social larks during COVID-time. I'll try to post to Earwigoagin irregularly, particularly if it is easy; if stuff lands in my lap.

John Z went off down south for the Classic Moth Midwinters and relays the news. Weather was beautiful in Gulfport, Florida; sunny 80F (26C), light winds in the morning with the regular breeze clocking in for the afternoon. Nine Classic Moths showed up with the CMBA resident professional and all-around nice guy, Jeff Linton, again making off with top honors. Shore photos are from John Zseleczky and on-the-water photos from Amy Linton (which I have converted to black and white in my own fashion).

(George Albaugh has his more extensive Midwinter report up on his blog.)

George Albaugh with his wooden Europe on the Gulfport YC dinghy lawn.

Greg Duncan rigging his glass Europe.

Jamey Rabbit with no. 134, his new modified Mistral design. Jamey had teething problems on Saturday but came back strong on Sunday, posting 1st's and 2nd's. Jamey started this project back in 2015, seven years to completion, which is getting into my extended time frame for boat projects. In the photo below, you can definitely see he pinched in the topsides up forward. (Compare to the standard Mistral shape of Joe Bosquet, no. 48, in the background.)

Jamey Rabbit rigging. His new Classic Moth has carbon bits and bobs all over the place. The aft deck looks like you could launch drones off it. Jamey documented his Classic Moth build over at his Blackberry Boatworks blog.

John Z motoring upwind. John would finish 2nd to Jeff in Gen II.

Mark Saunders in his modified wood-redecked Europe giving Jamey Rabbit a run for his money. Mark would win the Gen 1 division.

Mark Saunders in his Europe upwind. From this angle looks very similar to my Maser. I've been looking at film photography recently and somehow I rendered this photo in Photoshop very much in the ethos of Japanese street photographer, Daido Moriyama; very contrasty with bright highlights and darker darks.

A start. Jeff Linton, no.102, has already got a nice jump on the fleet.

Mike Parsons catching up with Rod Koch (the other Rod). Rod, along with Jeff is a past Sunfish champion. Rod raced a modified Europe back around the 2010 time frame.

Joe Bousquet holding a slim lead over Jeff Linton at the reach mark.

Mark Saunders in his Gen 1 Europe holding off the faster Gen II Mistrals of Mike Parsons and Joe Bousquet.

Header Photo: Classic Moths in the Mist

I started off the 2020 year with a header photo of (what else) Classic Moths racing in Sunday's early morning mist of last years Midwinter Regatta. Foreground is John Zseleczky, background is Mike Parsons.

Header Photo: Classic Moth Midwinters (2016)

The previous header photo was of 2015 Classic Moth Midwinters champ, Mark Saunders, running downwind in his Mistral. This makes a nice lead-in to a quick report of the 2016 Classic Moth Midwinters this past February.

The Midwinters, hosted as usual by Gulfport Y.C. in St. Petersburg, Florida, was sailed in lightish airs for the most part, and past multiple National Champ, Jeff Linton returned after a layoff to take the title; though both Mark Saunders and Ethan Bixby pushed Jeff hard on Saturday. Frickie Martschink won in Gen 1 in a fleet that comprised mostly of Europe Dinghies. The Charleston South Carolina Classic Moth fleet traveled en-masse to the regatta, having recently restocked with several Europe Dinghies they obtained in a fire sale from the Sag Harbor Dinghy fleet.

The results:

Skipper	Races	Hull Design
Jeff Linton	2,[4],1,2,1,1,1	Mousetrap
Ethan Bixby	1,1,3,3,[DNS],2,3	Mousetrap
Mark Saunders	3,3,2,1,2,[4],4	Mistral
Frickie Martschink	5,5,4,5,4,[7],6	Olympic Europe (Gen 1)
Lewis Hay	8,6,5,4,3,[10],5	Olympic Europe (Gen 1)
Mike Parsons	4,2,[DNS],DNS,DNS,3,2	Mistral
Rutledge Young	[10],9,6,6,5,6,8	Olympic Europe (Gen 1)
George Albaugh	6,7,9,[10],8,5,7	Olympic Europe (Gen 1)
Jack Clark	7,8,7,8,7,[9],9	Round-bilge Lindenberg (Gen 1)
Tom Kapp	9,[10],8,7,6,8,10	Olympic Europe (Gen 1)
Woody Kapp	11,11,[DNF],9,9,11,11	Shelley Mk1 (Gen 1)

Some photos from Amy Linton:

A trio of Gen I Moths making their way upwind. From left to right; Jack Clark in no. 82 a beautiful wooden Lindenberg, Frickie Martschink in no. 4067, a stock Europe Dinghy and no. 144, Lewis Hay in another Europe Dinghy.

Amy S. Linton

Most of the Gen 1 fleet with their skippers folded inside their boats as they slowly make their way around the leeward mark. George A. creator of the Mid-Atlantic Musings blog in the lead.

Amy S. Linton

George A. again, sporting his signature "cycling" cap.

Amy S. Linton

Mark Saunders finished a close 3rd in the Gen II division with his Mistral.

Amy S. Linton

Gen 1 winner, Frickie Martschink approaching the reaching mark.

Amy S. Linton

A start on Saturday. North Sails small boat guru, Ethan Bixby borrowed no. 103, a Mousetrap Mistral, to finish second. Just to windward is Mike Parsons in his Mistral who finished fourth in the Gen II class.

Amy S. Linton

A panoramic shot of the same Saturday start.

Amy S. Linton

George Albaugh has a comprehensive report on the Midwinters, with more photos, over at his blog.

Header Photo: Classic Moth Midwinters and Report from 2015

The previous header photo was of the 2011 Classic Moth Midwinters, held at Gulfport Y.C Florida, the last one I attended.

The 2015 Midwinters were held again at Gulfport Y.C, over the crossover February/March weekend. Ten Classic's attended but unfortunately, this year, no-one from the Florida fleet raced. Saturday's racing was called off with the threat of thunderstorms but Sunday offered up warm temperatures and a pleasant racing breeze. Mark Saunders arrived with a makeover on his venerable Mistral; he added a "Linton rocking" rig and a new North sail to secure victory in Gen II class. The three Mistal's finished at the top of the heap in Gen II with a Skol, a Duflos, and a modified, Lane Reeves Mistral following. In the Gen I class, long time class stalwart, George Albaugh in his Olympic Europe, finished comfortably ahead of three other Olympic Europe dinghies.

Much thanks to Amy Linton, who bore the brunt of the organizing this excellent regatta.

A mix of photos from Amy Linton and John Zseleczky.

One of the starts. #79 is Mike Parsons in his Mistral. #2721 is Frickie Martschink in his Skol, and #4067 is Lewis Hayes, hugging the RC boat.

Erik Albaugh in his Lane Reeves, mod-Mistral. Lane Reeves, when he bent up this Mistral, ended up with a finer bow and a flat transom.

Frickie Martschink - he of the post Lunch of Champions - had good speed in his Skol.

Winner of the Gen II class, Mark Saunders in his Mistral.

Famous designer, Charlie Morgan showed up to look at the fleet. It appears he cut his teeth on the Moth when he was a "youngin". Here is talking to Tom Price of the Chesapeake fleet. Charlie's son is standing next to Charlie.

Two of the four Classic Moths from the Chesapeake fleet who attended. On the left is John Z's Mistral (he finished 2nd in Gen II) and on the right is Tom Price's Duflos.

Rod Koch, George Albaugh and Erik Albaugh debate one of the finer design points of the Lane Reeves mod-Mistral. George and Erik made up the other portion of the Chesapeake contingent.

Click here for other posts on the Classic Moth Midwinters.

Classic Moth: Lunch of Champions

Some of us have read Dennis Connor's "No Excuse to Lose" but, then again, some of us still have a problem dotting the i's and crossing the t's when it comes to implementing Dennis's recipe to win sailboat races. Fricke Martschink, forging his own way to greatness, pauses to refuel during a break in the racing at the Classic Moth Midwinters. Video from Amy Linton. Classic Moth is a modified Skol.

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.

Header Photo: Linton Leading Classic Moths on a Reach

I haven't seen the inside of a Classic Moth for a while. This is one of my stylized photos of Jeff Linton leading the fleet down the reach at the 2013 Gulfport Midwinters. I've forgotton now but this might be a Lenny Parker photo. Linton is driving his modified Mistral.

Classic Moth Midwinters 2011 Results

I've been somewhat tardy on posting the 2011 Midwinter results. Here are the top twelve positions. Jeff had to dig himself back in a couple of races where he didn't lead from the start, but for the most part he was leading from the first weather mark on (the RAF was when he realized he had sailed the wrong course).

Skipper	Races	Hull Design
Jeff Linton	[RAF],1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1	Mousetrap
John Zseleczky	1,2,2,2,[6],2,5,2,3,2,3	Collins-Mistral
Mike Parsons	3,3,3,[5],2,5,2,3,4,4,2	Mistral
Randall Swan	4,5,5,3,5,[7],3,4,2,6,5	Skol
Rod Mincher	2,6,8,6,4,4,6,6,[11],5,9	Maser (Gen 1)
Walt Collins	7,7,4,7,3,6,7,[11],8,7,7	Olympic Europe (Gen 1)
Derek Dudinsky	[RAF],4,7,4,7,8,10,5,6,8,8	Mousetrap
Rod Koch	5,8,6,8,8,3,4,8,5,[DNF],DNC	Mistral
Bob Patterson	6,11,9,11,10,9,9,10,9,[12]	Duflos
George Albaugh	8,9,[12],10,11,10,8,9,12,9	Alois Roland Europe (Gen 1)
Lewis Hay	9,10,[13],9,9,11,11,13,10,11,11	Olympic Europe (Gen 1)
Ken Wilius	10,12,[DNF],DNC,DNC,DNC,DNC,7,7,3,4	Mousetrap

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!

Classic Moth 2011 Midwinters; First Cut

Last weekend, Mothboat regatta road trip partner John Z and I were down at Gulfport YC, St. Pete, Florida for the Classic Mothboat Midwinters. Suffice to say that, after years of traveling thousands of miles up and down I-95 to sail the midwinters in 40-50 degree F temperatures , this year we were treated to both Saturday and Sunday temps in the high 70's to just scratching the 80's. After a chilly December, January, and February in the Mid-Atlantic, this was a much welcome change. Sixteen Mothboats sailed eleven races in lightish winds (I think I got serious in the hiking straps for a minute or two the whole series).

A great series, both on and off the water. I'll post some teaser pictures now and post a more detailed report later. Longtime Mothist, George Albaugh, in his blog "Mid-Atlantic Musings", has weighed in with his first post up on the Midwinters. You can jump to his article HERE .

First, acknowledgements to the photographers. On shore photos are from Bob Patterson and the on the water photos are from Amy Parker. Again, click on the picture to get a higher resolution image.

Transplanted Englishman and Isle of Wightian, Len Parker, with his 1960's Isle of Wight/McCutcheon built Shelly design......



Rutledge Young from the Charleston fleet with the, very pretty but unfortunately slow, Savannah Wedge design......



Walt Collins with his Olympic Europe dinghy.......



Your blogmeister with his Maser......



Greg Duncan launching his modified Mistral. Prognosis was Greg couldn't keep the transom out of the water in the light stuff (maybe a lighter skipper would be the ticket) and, in bending up the panels, he had pushed the rocker too far forward. A previous video on this design with Greg's commentary can be found here ........



Annapolitan, John Z., finished second overall in his Walt Collins built mod-Mistral "Y2K Bug"....


Derek Dudinsky showed up with his Mousetrap design after a hiatus of several years, busy with a young family. Derek runs a successful marine metal fabrication business in St. Pete..........



One of the starts............


Sail maker to the stars (at least for the Classic Moth crowd), Rod Koch rounding the weather mark in a borrowed Mistral. Rod owns a very quick modified Europe but is usually seen racing OPM's (other people's Mothboats)........


Overall winner, Jeff Linton, crosses tacks with 73 year old Randall Swan (4th overall) in the creepy crawly conditions of Sunday's racing......

Some Pics from 2010 Classic Moth Midwinters

All pictures taken by Len Parker. As usual, click on picture to get high resolution image.

Post race kibitzing around Jeff Linton's Mousetrap.



Joe Bousquet in 102 Mousetrap.



John Z (the fast one out of Team Annapolis) winning a race. John finished a close 2nd in the regatta.



Mike Parsons, the winner, and Mark Saunders, 3rd place, rounding the weather mark.