Offsets for the French Fragniére Moth Classique

Plans de voiliers classiques Moth, Plans de dériveur classique Moth.
Concours de Plans pour Moth Classique lancé par "Le Chasse Marée"

Marc Morell

When I have some spare time I try to load a Classic Moth design onto the computer (usually with modifications, but hey, this is the beauty of the Classic Moth!). This time I have the offsets for the French Fragniére design, designed in the late 1950's and equivalent in design progression to the North American Mint or Cates design (which we classify as Generation 1). The Fragniére is a simple V-shape design with lots of rocker. The most unusual characteristic is the V-shaped transom bow which may not be at its best in open water but gives the design a distinctive look. This was a very popular design in France and should present the competent amateur with a straight-forward building project (except for the curved transom bow as shown in the plans - which would take some planning).

(To work with the PDF file, click the pop-out icon on the top right-hand corner to open the PDF file in another tab. From there you can print or download the file.)

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Click here for the offsets of a three planker modified Fragniere Classic Moth design.

The Swallow Scow Plans: The Rudder Magazine's Second DIY Scow

The Rudder magazine launched their second scow, the Swallow, a 24 foot, three person scow in December 1898, just three months after they started publishing the plans for the 16 foot Lark scow. A year later, in the November and December 1899 issues of the magazine, they would serialize the Swallow plans, and like the Lark, issue a stand-alone plans and building booklet  The design is credited to Charles Mower but the prototype builder, Larry Huntington, was a renowned scow designer in his own right. I can't imagine that Larry Huntington didn't have a large say in the design of this scow so I personally would credit the design to a collaboration, a Mower/Huntington design.

As with the Lark scow, the Swallow proved very popular with amateur builders and was built around the world. Unlike the Lark, the Swallow didn't make it wholly into today's sailing scene. In looking at all the modern day scow designs, it appears to me that only the Sea Island One-Design seems to have inherited a large portion of her DNA from the Swallow. (The Sea Island One-Design ended up wider, particularly at the back end.)

For those who wish to delve further, you are in luck; the Library of Congress has scanned the Swallow plans booklet into PDF format.

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Click here for the Library of Congress PDF scan of The Rudder plans booklet of the Swallow scow.

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The following photos were harvested from The Rudder Swallow plans booklet. As always click inside the photo for a larger view.

The cover of the booklet.

The lines. The very shallow arc bottom was also the shape of Larry Huntington's Seawanhaka scow, Question, of 1895.

Two photos of the prototype on her maiden voyage in December 1898, The Rudder magazine editor Thomas Day skippering and Larry Huntington crewing. The day was cold and blustery.

Entering the harbor.

Group boatbuilding party planking the hull and flipping her rightside.

Compendium of launch and sailing photos.

Scows at the 2015 International Moth Worlds

Seven Australian scows, a mixture of old and new, are sailing in the 2015 International Moth Worlds hosted by the Sorrento Sailing Couta Boat Club, Victoria, Australia. For news on the 2015 Moth Worlds, it is worth clicking over to the popular Sailing Anarchy blog for Mr. Clean has been omnipresent, recording races live, doing interviews and documenting the ups and downs, both on-shore and in-the-water, of the professional programs that dominate the hi-tech foiler crowd. The scows are definitely the amateur, old-fashioned, side-show in this regatta, but, to Sailing Anarchy's credit, they have been devoting some of their coverage to the scow crowd.

Back in September, Aussie Mark Hughes, wrote me an email with some links to a flat-pack scow kit he had designed and, from which, one hull had been built over the 2014 Australian winter. It was a modified Ray Hilton Bunyip IX design (the plans which have been posted on this blog). It consists of pre-cut carbon/foam pieces which are assembled inside a snap-together jig, also supplied in the kit. Pretty nifty but there were some unanswered questions I had about the construction. (Such as how do you get the carbon/foam panels to bend into the jig?)

Mark has a blog on his M-Scow-03 design which offers up, for free, the plans for this scow Moth. There are 10 PDF plans as well as CAD cut files available for download.

Here is one of his PDF sheets. Very high quality CAD work here. Again to open this PDF in another tab, click on the pop-out icon (the box with the upward facing arrow, upper right corner).





Ah, it seems the blogmeister has lost his train of thought and digressed away from the scows in the 2015 Worlds...but, patience dear reader, there is a connection. It turns out the Brian Sherring, the owner and builder of the first M-Scow-03 is sailing at the Worlds and he was the subject of a Mr. Clean interview which can be seen over here on Facebook.

There are two other scow photos of interest from the 2015 Moth Worlds, both of them I'm reposting from Sailing Anarchy (again a TOH to Sailing Anarchy for covering some of the scow stuff).

Father/son team, Ian (dad) and Andrew Sim (son) in front of their scows. Andrew is sailing a 1980's vintage Stunned Mullet design. The blond wood decks are lightweight hoop pine plywood, which was an Aussie-only product of the 1980's and no longer available. His dad, Ian, is sailing a more modern foam/glass scow design. (Photo from Sailing Anarchy)

Wednesday's racing for the Worlds was canceled when a vicious low decamped over Sorrento. One of the French father/son combo, either Jim or David, decided to take his scow out for a burn in the gale. (Photo from Sailing Anarchy)

It's also apropros to repost this YouTube on the Aussie Scow Moth (Ian Sim is the fellow who is last up in this video):

Lark Scow Plans: Instructions and Drawings by William Kerr, 1963

As I mentioned in my original post about the 1897 Lark scow, Bill Kerr redrew the plans for the Erieau Y.C. fleet in 1963. All the new Lark builds at Erieau Y.C. follow his plans. Peter Gilbert from the Erieau fleet has kindly sent along the Kerr plans. I chunked them into two PDF files; an instruction manual PDF and a drawing PDF.

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Note: Click here for the 1940 Rudder plans.

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The instruction booklet: (Click on the upward pointing arrow "pop-out" icon on the top right of the menu bar to open the PDF in another tab. From that tab you will be able to print or download the PDF.)




The Bill Kerr drawings including sections: (Again, use the pop-out icon to open in another tab.)

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For Rudder's second DIY scow, the Swallow, click here.

Crosby Classic Moth "Skimmer" Plans

William F. Crosby design.

I lifted these from George A.'s blog. and put them into a PDF format. No reason these plans couldn't be modified to substitute the sit-on-deck with a small cockpit. Also, to jack the sail-plan up higher, the rule of thumb for our current Classic Moths is a 17' (5182 mm) mast length with the 15' (4572 mm) luff length of the sail, leaving approx 2' (610 mm) from deck level to gooseneck.

To download:

1. Hover the mouse over the top, black menu bar.
2. Select the upward facing arrow icon to pop it into another tab in your browser.

An original Skimmer has been found in New England.

Plans for the Classic Lark Scow

I've chunked together, into a PDF file, the plans for the Lark scow as published in Rudder magazine in the 1940's. It calls for a traditional build of the Lark but that doesn't mean you couldn't utilize modern technology and build it another way. To download the PDF plans click on the upward pointing arrow icon in the top right of the app bar. This will pop the PDF into another tab and you can print or download from there. Note that page 12 of the PDF file is blank.

Click here for the William Kerr plans and instructions to build the Lark scow.

Click here for the background post on the Lark scow.

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For The Rudder magazine's second DIY scow, the Swallow, click here.

Scow Moth Plans: Australian Len Morris's MkII

I've chunked the plans for Len Morris's Mk II scow Moth into a loadable PDF format below. Len Morris's Mk II was the post-WWII design that would spread the scow Moth into every corner of Australian dinghy racing. A boxy, flat-bottomed design, hundreds of Mk II's would be built and this design would also spawn the one-design New-Zealand scow Moth, where hundreds more of this class would be built. The Australians from day one favored a high aspect (17-foot luff) sail plan-form compared to the lower aspect (15-foot luff) of the then International Moth (now our U.S. Classic Moth).

Click here to view a Mk II in the flesh.

(If you want to download or print the PDF file, click on the upward pointing arrow icon at the top right of the app bar. This will open the PDF in another tab where you can print or download.)

Classic Moth Plans: Zippy Sections in PDF format

Plans de voiliers classiques Moth, Plans de dériveur classique Moth

I published the Zippy Classic Moth offsets back in August of this year. Here are the sections in PDF format, 1/7 scale (for comparison the WL are spaced at 60 mm and the buttocks are spaced at 150 mm. If you print the page out it should be suitable to build a model out of cardboard (or if you are really ambitious, balsa). Print the page out in landscape to get the proper scale. (To print or download, move your mouse over to the right top app bar, click on the upward facing arrow icon to open the PDF in another tab. You can print or download from there.)

Classic Moth Plans: Offsetts for Zippy Design

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(Update December 2013: For those who like the visual lines drawing the Zippy sections in PDF format are posted here.)

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(Update February 2015: I finally have compiled and posted here the 8 station offsets which will make it easier to plot out frames.)

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Plans de voiliers classiques Moth, Dériveur classique Moth.

There are two "wide-body" Classic Moth designs currently kicking around, the round-bilged Titan, an American design, which is featured in this header photo, and the French Proust design which I profiled in this post. The Proust design is a simple, v-bottom shape and should be easy to plank in plywood though Jim Young built his version in fiberglass/foam-core. If you build it with the open cockpit as Jim Young did (rather than the racing cockpit), the Proust should be more than capable in taking an adult and a young kid for a pleasant day-sail.

Jim Young named his Proust version Tippy, a misnomer since this design has more than enough stability for a Mothboat. I've taken the Proust and made some changes and in keeping with the Jim Young naming convention, I've deemed my version  Zippy.

The Jim Young Tippy at the 2008 Elizabeth City Nationals.

The original Proust had a chine log which I've eliminated to make it a true V-bottom. I changed the rocker and the sheer slightly. I have it on my list to make a model of Zippy but as my friends know, my projects take a very long, long time. If anyone out in the bloggosphere would like to make of model of Zippy, please send along photos and I'll post them.

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Here are the the 8 station offsets for Zippy in metric. To print or download, click on the pop-out icon on the top-right corner. It will open the PDF in another tab where you can print or download.

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Here are the offsets for Zippy for stations set at 336mm (13 inch English) which is really too many for a traditional build where you leave the frames in the boat (like the Nantais or Little Mae Moths).

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And here is "Zippy the Pinhead", the cartoon star, the enigmatic master of dry wit from another dimension, a cartoon I always checked in with daily even when I didn't understand where he was going.

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Where to put the mast and daggerboard in a Classic Moth?

Luckily, John Shelley's construction drawings for the Shelley Mk 1, which he used in a patent application, have now surfaced on the internet. His mast and daggerboard placement as indicated in the drawings below are good placements, though, if you went around the fleet with a measuring tape, you would find this might vary by up to 75 mm from boat to boat.

Center of mast back from stem - 695 mm.

Leading edge of daggerboard back from stem - 1453 mm.

Bunyip IX Scow Plans; Station Offsets

For those who are having a hard time making out the station offsets from the hand written Bunyip IX plans, here are the offsets in a more readable version. (To download or print the file, click on the upward facing arrow icon on the top-right of the app bar. The PDF will open in another tab on your browser where you can print or download the PDF.)

Plans for a Scow Moth; Bunyip IX

The Australian Scow Moth is one of the most exciting chapters in the history of building wooden racing dinghies. With the pressure cooker of constant hull development, builders were able to get the scow hulls below 40 lbs (18 kg) by paring away structure, till, all that was left was the essentials. Scow Moths were built like airplane wings; a very light skin (1.5 mm or 1/16" ply) supported by ribs and strategically placed bulkheads.

Ray Hilton, of Western Australia, designed and built scow Moths for his sons, Greg and John, through the 1970's to the mid 1980's. In 1982, Greg Hilton was the last Moth sailor to win a World Championship in a scow. Ray's Bunyip IX design (and the Ian Ward's, Jim French's, Andy McDougall's scow design) is where wooden Moth scow development stopped as the skiff hull in mid 1980's was rapidly outpacing the scow in International Moth competition.

Ray's plans and building instructions for the Bunyip IX, reproduced below, is a fascinating study of how to build very lightweight wooden boat racing dinghies. (To print or download, click on the upward arrow icon in the top-right app bar. The will open the PDF in another tab on your browser where you can print or download.)

• More readable station offsets for the Bunyip IX can be found here.
• Some pictures of Aussie scow Moths can be found here. 
• Australian Mark La has taken the Bunyip lines and made a flat-pack kit.
• Plans for the 1940's Len Morris scow Moth can be found here.

Classic Moth Plans; Metric Offsets for "Little Mae Too"

Plans de voiliers classique Moth, plans d$#233;riveur classique Moth.

As promised, here are the metric offsets to the Vintage Moth design "Little Mae Too". It might help those tired eyes trying to decipher the blurry offsets from the drawings.

The original post with drawings can be found here. (To print or download the PDF, click on the upward facing arrow icon in the top-right app bar. The PDF will open in another tab in your browser where you can print or download the PDF.)

Classic Moth Plans; "Little Mae Too" Vintage Design

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Click here for the metric offsets for Little Mae Too

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As mentioned previously, American Roger Gintling published plans for a Moth in 1943. It is very, very similar to the Moth Nantais that was built in France during World War II. My scanned copy doesn't give the magazine name that these plans originally appreared in.

Yes, the "Little Mae Too" is an old design, but, except for the scow bow, the V'eed hull sections of the "Little Mae Too" are similar to the Sunfish or the Snipe, two dinghy classes extremely popular to this day.

Vintage Moth designs are stable and good weight carriers. Just the ticket if you want to build a small sailboat for your cabin by the lake or something for the kids to kick around with.

One doesn't have to copy the bubble deck design of these vintage boats, a curved foredeck with a flat aft deck would look nice. And it would be good idea to at least have two air buoyancy tanks by closing in some frames with plywood.

The following scan of "LIttle Mae Too" plans isn't the sharpest but, combining this PDF file with some of the photos of the Moth Classique Nantais construction, one can get a good idea how to build a "Little Mae Too". I've also fed the line plans through MaxSurf design software which I've put at the end of the PDF file, also with some metric station spacing.

To print or download this PDF, move your mouse over the top menu bar. Click on the upward-facing arrow icon in the top-right to open the PDF in another tab on your browser. You can print or download the PDF from this new tab.

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For a review of Classic Moth designs, click here.

PDF from 2005 Classic Moth Nationals

In going through some of my files, I came across this PDF I made of mostly transom shots of various Classic Moths at the 2005 Nationals. Not much has changed as Jeff Linton won again this year with his Mousetrap design. (To print or download, click on the upward-facing arrow icon on the top-right app bar. This will open the PDF in another tab on your browser where you can print or download.)

Classic Moth fathead experiment

I previously wrote of some sail experimentation in the Classic Moth. I've documented my fathead experimental sail design in the following PDF file. (To print or download this PDF, click on the upward-facing arrow icon in the top-right of the app bar. The PDF will pop into another tab on your browser where you can print or download.)