Veal goes full time

The Australian Moth sailor is set to sail and sell the Bladerider Moth through new employer KA Sails

Australian Moth guru, Rohan Veal, has finally made the move many have been expecting for some time and is now set to sail for a living rather than working in his own web business.

Veal made the announcement through his, regularly updated, website ( here). He has now sold his company and is contracted full time to KA sails who are, crucially, the company behind the Bladerider Moth (see our feature about the boat here.)

Since the beginning of the foiling revolution Veal has always been in partnership with Jon Ilett of Fastacraft. “I was disappointed for John, as we had worked together for a number of years to build a very successful hull and foil package, but the offer from KA was too good to say no too. I was looking for a career change anyway, so it was good timing,” explained Veal.

Veal’s presence in the Bladerider camp certainly lends the boat a great deal of credibility and already the orders have been flooding in. They have received, according to Veal, over 400 e-mail enquiries, have 25 confirmed orders and will have 12 boats on the water by this Christmas, all very impressive for a product launched at the start of summer this year.

It will not all be fun out on the water for Veal in his new job, however, as he will take an active role in the marketing of the product. “I will be attending the Annapolis and Hamburg boat shows in the next few months (plus many more next year including the London Dinghy Show), and I think this will be the beginning of something big for the Moth class. We are anticipating on building up to 400 boats in 2007, but I am not sure that this is going to be enough. However, the arrangement we have with the new builders (McConaghy's), is that we can easily build more if we need to,” he says.

Finally, of course, there are still the Olympic rumors circling about the boat and or the class. “ISAF have expressed a surprising amount of interest in the Bladerider Olympic proposal KA put forward to ISAF at their May 2006 conference. If [the Olympics] does happen [for the Bladerider] (and that is a big 'IF'), we want to make sure the boat still measures as an International Moth, as this would allow the boats to be used in Moth regattas as well as Bladerider Olympic regattas, much like the one design Hobie Tiger competes in the F18 regattas,” states Veal.

Finally the company is offering some financial incentives for those wanting to be first to own a Bladerider Moth. They are offering (for a limited time) the option for buyers to become an ‘Ambassador’ for KA. In doing so, they get a small discount off their boat, and a small credit with KA for every boat sold as a result of them introducing someone to the class and buying a Bladerider.

Anyone interested in testing a Bladerider in the UK or Europe during the European spring next year, will be able to put their name down at the respective countries boat shows, alternatively contact the company direct here.