Skate Sail in Saskatchewan

Holy Moly Batman, someone already has ice in North America.! But not much wind!

Slow-time Skate Sail from Village Rainbows on Vimeo.

Why a Classic Moth is Better than a Laser

Upon writing a post about Cooper River 2011, I was reminded that I had yet to write a post that I had intended for last year. The post was supposed to be in response to an incident at Cooper River 2010 (as I have mentioned before, this blog is all about timeliness!).

Last year at Cooper River, just before launching my Classic Moth for the day, I was rounding the corner of the clubhouse when I overheard a conversation between two Laser sailors. Both of them were looking over at our congregation of Classic Moths when one of them said;

"I understand why someone would sail a foiler Moth, but I can't understand why someone would sail one of these", as he nodded his head toward our fleet.

I didn't respond, just smiled to myself and kept going. It wasn't the time or place, I had to get ready for the day on the water. But the gauntlet had been thrown down. It just takes me a while to pick it up.

Tillerman has merrily gone down this path before with several posts on "Reasons why such-and-such class is better", the Sunfish/Laser being a target in his post Ten Reasons Why Sunfish are better than Lasers , and then with the Force Five/Laser with Seven Reasons Why Force Fives are Better than Lasers . (Tillerman even had a tongue-in-cheek, self flagellation post, Seven Reasons to Hate Laser Sailors, but that isn't germane to this post.)

I can come up with five strong reasons why I persist in sailing the Classic Moth and not return to the Laser Borg (though you will find me every once in a while racing a Laser.)

1. Classic Moths are so much Lighter

Every time I sail a Laser I dread carrying an enormously heavy Board Bag to the boat, wrestling an enormously heavy mast with sail attached into the mast tube, heaving a heavy Laser hull onto a dolly, and staggering backwards up the inclined float with the Laser on dolly. Admittedly this may be my age talking but, in reality, I have the Classic Moth to compare it too. The Classic Moth minimum hull weight is 75 lbs (34 kg), though most of my Classic Moths have weighed closer to 90 lbs (41 kg). This is still 40 lbs (18 kg) lighter than a Laser! My heavier Classic Moth aluminum mast weighs 10 lbs - 4.5kg ( (carbon masts are even less). I think a Laser mast is 18 lbs (8kg). My blades, which are wood, nothing special, feel to be 1/2 the weight of a Lasers. All this lightness of a Classic Moth makes the off the water chores of rigging and moving and loading boats that much more enjoyable than a Laser. And on the water, that lightness of the Classic Moth plays into reason #3 below.


2. My Classic Moth fits Me

The Laser has a flat deck, great for production but very uncomfortable for hiking. The Laser has a very raked rudder which develops a lot of helm fast with any bit of heel. The Laser now has "improved sail controls" but the cleats are still forward of the daggerboard, which is a long way to reach. The Laser has a marginal bailer which, upwind, still leaves the cockpit full of water in a breeze. With the Classic Moth, I can change all this.... or not. If I don't like a flat deck, I can build a different one, or if I like a flat deck, I can build a flat deck. And so on down the line. For the most part, in a Classic Moth, if I don't like it, I can change it. And fitting the boat to me makes it more enjoyable to sail.


3. The Classic Moth is more fun to sail

Anytime I get into a Laser, it feels like an aircraft carrier compared to a Classic Moth. The Classic Moth, with it's shorter length and lighter weight is just more lively on the water. I have a rudder which is tuned to be very balanced so it has a great feel upwind. Offwind, with it's lighter weight, the Classic Moth lights up in a breeze. There is no doubt that the Laser is considerably faster than the Classic Moth (except maybe in drifting conditions) but I just enjoy sailing the Classic Moth more. A friend of mine said there were two types of sailboat racers; those that were more interested in hard core racing, the intensity and the competition,and those that were more interested in racing boats that have certain appealing characteristics. Throughout my sailing career, I've straddled those two groups but, as I have aged, my interests have slid over from the hard-core racing into "I race in this class because I appreciate how it sails".


4. Classic Moths are Cheaper

My Maser I picked up for $500 (no rig) and I have another hull in my collection I picked up for $350. Complete Classic Moths with National Championship speed have been had for under $1000. Used Classic Moths going for more than $3000 are unheard of (but if you want to build your own, you'll probably spend around $3000 when all is said and done). Granted we have no professional builder, so it's a little harder to take your check book out and purchase one, but a little leg work will usually find some Classic Moth that will fit your bill.


5. The Classic Moth People

You stay with a class because you fit in with the people. The Classic Moth is diverse, the people are diverse. And laid back. Because I did the Laser thing in my twenties and I don't need that kind of intensity year round in my sailboat racing. I get tired of talking about that left shift I missed at the weather mark to drop me behind 25 Lasers. I've been missing those shifts for many years and I just as soon talk about that Vintage 1940's Moth you've restored or that Savannah Wedge design you pulled out of retirement, or your trip to Sweden, or tell me about the latest A-cat developments.

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Here's John Z's [Gen II Mistral Mothman] reasons why a Classic Moth is better than a Laser:

"I sail both a Laser and a Mistral Classic Moth and racing the Classic Moth is definitely more fun, mainly because Moths are much lighter so they accelerate more. When you're sailing you feel acceleration more than you feel velocity (F=ma). Classic Moths leap frog down the reach legs so we sail triangles a lot.

"Moths also have more controllable rigs. In 20+ knots I can flatten out the Moth sail, put the traveler down and keep blasting along. In a Laser, Radial included, I'm struggling - at 140 lbs.

"I still enjoy the Laser because we sail all summer at my club on Tuesday nights with 15+ boats on the line every week. We only race Moths five or six times a year and it takes some driving (NJ, NC, FL, MD).

"If you like to putter on boats and don't mind driving you should definitely consider the "more fun" boat ...

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Click here to have a look at the various designs of Classic Moth - including some you can build!

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Photos of some of my Classic Moths:

My Gen II Energizer (mod Stockholm Sprite -plywood) showing some blue masking tape remaining post-painting.

My Gen II Tweezer (strip planked - own design).

My Gen I Maser (Laser cut-down to fit Classic Moth rule).

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Why is a Laser faster than a Classic Moth?

Music Whenever: John Mellencamp "Pink Houses"

Another great tune I file under the genre "Americana" rock.



There's a black man with a black cat
Livin' in a black neighborhood
He's got an interstate runnin' through his front yard
You know he thinks that he's got it so good

And there's a woman in the kitchen
Cleanin' up the evenin' slop
And he looks at her and says
"Hey darlin', I can remember when you could stop a clock"

Oh, but ain't that America for you and me
Ain't that America somethin' to see baby
Ain't that America home of the free
Little pink houses for you and me

There's a young man in a t-shirt
Listenin' to a rockin' rollin' station
He's got greasy hair, greasy smile
He says, "Lord this must be my destination"

'Cause they told me when I was younger
"Boy you're gonna be President"
But just like everything else those old crazy dreams
Just kinda came and went

Oh, but ain't that America for you and me
Ain't that America somethin' to see baby
Ain't that America home of the free
Little pink houses for you and me

Well there's people and more people
What do they know know know
Go to work in some high rise
And vacation down at the Gulf of Mexico, ooh yeah

And there's winners and there's losers
But they ain't no big deal
'Cause the simple man baby pays for the thrills, the bills
The pills that kill

Oh, but ain't that America for you and me
Ain't that America somethin' to see baby
Ain't that America home of the free
Little pink houses for you and me

Cooper River Fall 2011

The more astute among those of you who still read my drivel after all these years; you may have noticed that I haven't been sailing my Classic Moth that much...... and you're right! I last raced my Maser in June and neither my Maser or any of my project Classic Moths have been dipped in water since.... that is until last weekend. My job as a sailmaker for the US Naval Academy went away in July, it was a temporary assignment after all, and I, in trying to navigate what is indeed a difficult job market, I haven't been able to wrap my head around racing my Classic Moths. There have been other distractions as well; a wedding and other temporary work. Well, last weekend I bundled my trusty Maser onto the trailer and made the trip up to Philadelphia with my Mothboater travel mate, John Z. The river provided a nice 5-7 knot, typically fluky breeze, the temps were close to 60 F, the sun was out, not a cloud in the sky, a gorgeous afternoon. We raced 6 short races, I finished 3rd out of 5 and had a blast. After the racing, as is the custom, the Mid-Atlantic Mothboaters spent time sampling weird and wonderful beers, orchestrated by Mike and Barbara Parsons. We had the Dogfish Pangea, a spicy beer with a strong orange taste, Fegleys Imperial Pumpkin, my review of which has been relegated to my Pumpkin Beer post , Samuel Smith Winter Ale with a typical English maltiness and my cheaper but still tasty, Farmhouse Ale Stout. A picture from left to right; George, who is the author of the blog Mid-Atlantic Musings, Mike, a friend of Mike's who only likes watered down lite beer but we still let him join the party, Barbara, who brought out the Imperial Pumpkin Ale, and the blogmeister, still sporting his zinc oxide sun screen. (John Z is behind the camera.) One of the neat things about Cooper River is that it has the feeling of being in a quiet suburban setting but you can see the skyline of Philadelphia poking out above the treeline. Here is the skyline behind the massive rowing center building on Cooper River. In my dotage, I pick my fall days I want to go sailing and you couldn't pick one better than this.

Music Whenever: Tribute "While My Guitar Gently Weeps"

From Wikipedia :

In 2004, George Harrison was inducted posthumously into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a solo artist. "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" was played in tribute by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers Tom Petty, Jeff Lynne, Steve Winwood, Steve Ferrone, Marc Mann, and Dhani Harrison, along with fellow inductee Prince.

Actually this serves two purposes; it allows me to cleverly connect this following music video into the current mess in the Laser class.

In the mid 90's, Prince decided to change his name into a symbol that couldn't be printed. Everyone had to refer to him awkwardly as "the artist formerly known as Prince".

As Tillerman notes, in 2011, Bruce Kirby decided to rename his Laser design to "The Kirby Sailboat". Now everyone should refer to Tillerman's favorite sailboat (again awkwardly) as "the Kirby Sailboat formerly known as the Laser".

Anyway, great music video, particularly when "the artist formerly known as Prince" does his solo at the end.

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Update: Baydog has kindly posted another version of "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" (as well as some Bob Dylan) over here . Also, in the comments, Tillerman suggests going to YouTube and watching a live version with George and Eric Clapton done during a 1992 Japanese concert.

Kids and Parents and Sailing

A few years ago, Nick Hayes published a book "Saving Sailing; full of suggestions to grow the sport. Tillerman wrote a post about his thoughts on the book over here . One of the suggestions Nick made was that parents should actually go sailing with their kids rather than dropping them off at the club to be herded around the water by some college aged instructors. I think there is some merit in Nick's suggestion, though I am not one that can be held up as an example; I was much more into my singlehanded sailing as my kids were growing up and not so much into taking them out. Understandably my kids went off and found other activities they enjoyed more.

Here are three very different videos with parents/adults sailing with their kid(s).

The first one has a young tyke, somewhat overwhelmed, bombing along close to the water with his parents in a Hobe Tri-Foiler.

Salim goes sailing August 2011 from AaronDavis on Vimeo.

The second video has mom crewing for her two kids, one steering and one tending the jib on an older wooden catamaran (by the look of the crossbeams it may very well be an old Prout Shearwater, but I'm guessing this is Australia so it may be some home grown design). The video ends with what looks like Dad and maybe an older son, double trapezing on a modern skiff type vessel.

Sailing at the richmond river sailing club and rowing sunday 6/11/2011. from Callum on Vimeo.

And for Baydog, who has written about his family sailing on an E-scow , here is a kid steering an E-scow. By his grin from ear to ear, an experience he'll remember the rest of his life. (And plenty of grins and laughter from the old farts too!)

I've got to add this one from a fellow blogger. My2Fish, blogger about Sunfish sailing, music, and Michigan State football , points to his video of sunset sailing on his Sunfish with his oldest son. Beautiful colors in this video.

sunfish sailing with my son from my2fish on Vimeo.

Music Whenever: Bon Iver "Holocene"

Another recommendation from Robyn.

Supposedly Bon Iver fell in love with the beauty of Iceland and I have never seen a better music video in capturing stunning natural wonders. Combine this with Bon Iver's haunting acoustic sound to create something special.

BON IVER "Holocene" from nabil elderkin on Vimeo.