11ft long. 15.5 knots upwind

Following the debut of the Mach 2 in Australia, its jockey Simon Payne describes the latest foiling Moth

Newest foiling Moth on to the scene is the 'Dreadnought-bowed' Mach 2, the latest spawn of the union between Bladerider designer Andrew McDougall and Australia-China based boatbuilder McConaghys. The Mach 2 had its first outing in Melbourne in January where former Moth World Champion Simon Payne was leading the charge in the prototype Mach 2 only to be beaten in the closing stages of the regatta by Australian Olympic 49er sailor turned newbie foiler, Nathan Outteridge, aboard a Bladerider.

Back in the UK following his jaunt down under, Simon Payne, who’s company handles sales and marketing for the new foiler, has another prototype Mach 2 in the UK. Weekend after this the Mach 2 will be making its European debut at the RYA Dinghy Show, where this year all the foilers will be on display in Palm Court, the Alexandra Palace foyer.

“We built three boats initially over the Christmas and January period, of which two went to Melbourne and we used one at the Geelong Australian Nationals event,” recounts Payne. “But now hulls are being built at McConaghys to satisfy orders we’ve got. Basically we want to sell 100 boats and we are about a quarter of the way there, which isn’t bad considering we haven’t had a boat to show anyone.”

So why would Johnny Foiler buy a Mach 2 rather than a Bladerider? According to Payne there is parity in price between their boat and Bladerider’s top of the range VRX - in their case around £14,000 all up including VAT and delivery from McConaghys works in China.

But the real attraction is that after his success with the Bladerider, the Mach 2 represents Andrew McDougall’s latest thinking. “In terms of windage, it has a much smaller hull. Most people look at it and think how tiny it is. It is also beautifully constructed. The foils are high modulus, which means that there is less bend and for the customer’s piece of mind, it means that they are less likely to break in an impact. Also foil stiffness is pretty important for boat speed on hydrofoilers.”

The hull is made from uni-direction carbon fibre. “The foils are spaced further apart, which means the boat is, for a foiler, relatively easier to sail and all the control units are hidden in a bow pod - a carbon fibre bonnet where all the components for the gearing for the wand-flap mechanism is. So therefore there is less windage, it is protected…and it looks great,” continues Mr Sales & Marketing.

The new mast has its bend slightly higher up and the boat comes with a tapered boom and wings which have a bigger tube, thus making hiking that bit easier. First boats came out at a featherweight 8.3 and 8.4kg, says Payne. “And all that contributed to a boat that when I came off the start line in the first race of the Australian titles, I thought ‘Christ, this is fast’ and ‘what a relief that is’. The boat has had extensive sea trials now. It has been used pretty much every day since the Australian titles. We are pretty confident that structurally she is bullet proof, which is very important for customers. The three things we wanted to address were: to make the boat fast straight out of the box - which we proved in Australia. The boat should be solid enough so that people can stop worrying about it breaking all the time. And we wanted to - and that is where I am part of the business - is to give a good level of customer service and professional sales and marketing program.”

So already in the region of 25 have sold, four to UK sailors including Mike Lennon. Elsewhere leading US Moth sailor Bora Gulari has one on order as has top Swiss foiler Arnaud Psarofaghis. Payne reckons sales at present are being dictated more by exchange rates than anything - thus the UK and Australia are relatively poor markets whereas Europe, particularly Switzerland, and the States, where the Worlds this year are to be held at the Gorge in Oregon, represent the better markets.

Aside from his sales and marketing skill, Payne is one of the top foiling Moth sailors in the world and if anyone can make the new boat look good on the water, he can.

Over the last couple of seasons foiling Moth sailing has changed beyond all recognition. Back in the bad old days the likes of Rohan Veal would win regattas by a country mile, head and shoulders ahead of the nearest competition. Now with so many boats and so many top sailors driving them, this is no longer the case. “He was going a lot quicker than anyone else,” says Payne of his Aussie nemesis. “What has happened is that everyone has caught up and moved the game on. We are doing in the Mach 2, fully sheeted in, block to block on the main, 15.5 knots upwind. I don’t think anyone has a massive speed advantage any more, just going that much quicker than anyone else. There is more depth now, people are counting 9ths now and are still winning events. The Mach 2 has moved the game on a bit, but it is not a massive jump. So the speed is settling down, and it goes back to sailing basics and tactics and all that stuff.” Dear God, whatever next.

In Geelong, Arnaud Psarofaghis was clocked at 28 knots downwind - a highly respectable turn of speed for an 11ft long boat, in fact way beyond the speed an equivalent lengthed multihull could achieve. Thanks to the apparent wind developed at these kind of speeds, foiling Moths can sail incredibly deep downwind. “Actually you can go much deeper than an asymmetric spinnakered boat,” says Payne. “The only downside is that you are actually on the wrong gybe on the right gybe, if you see what I mean: The apparent is so low that you are actually sailing the course that other boats would be on on the other gybe. The only downside is that if you slow down, you instantly gybe - a bit of a shock until you realise what has caused it. So you are very very low, because you have 20 knots of apparent wind coming over the deck, but as soon as the wind dies or you hit a wave you can instantly gybe. So it can be exciting.”

Surely it is just a matter of time before we see Moth foils going yachting in the type of silver body suits as speed sailors such as Finian Maynard wear to reduce windage?!



While mastering how to go foiling was a steep curve up until recently, now it has plateaued out and the top sailors have mastered all the manoeuvres. Gybing on foils is today a matter of course, however Payne reckons that the foiling tack, thought to be the stunt of 2007-8, is something of a red herring.

“Bula Gulari came up with a good definition. He said if the foils are loaded throughout the tack, it is a good tack,” recounts Payne. “The hull doesn’t necessary have to be in the air. I caution people about trying too hard to do foiling tacks because there are a lot of Moths around these days and if you are on a layline to a mark the last thing you want to be doing is messing a tack up or coming out too low.”

One of the interesting observations to have come from the Aussie Nationals was that you don’t necessary need to be a spindly Laser sailor-sized person like Payne to have success in a foiler. “I am 67kg and I was the only one in the 60kg in the top 10,” says Payne of the Aussie Nationals results. “The guy who was third [David Lister - sailing a homebuilt boat incidentally] was 88kg. He wasn’t quick that upwind, but what we are seeing is that the bigger guys are starting to go faster downwind rather than upwind. The smaller guys can go pretty quick upwind, because they use pretty flat sails and they are low drag. But downwind the big guys can heat it up and use the apparent and bear away. That is something we have learned recently.”

We put it to Payne that surely the way to deal with this issue is for each Moth sailor to have a set of foils sized to suit their weight - heavier sailors get more wingspan, more lift, etc - rather than having to use extra flap which inevitably results in increased drag?

“Logically they should, but it hasn’t happened yet. People adjust the angle of attack on the foil more based on their weight, rather than changing the foil size which could leave you a bit exposed if it is too windy or too light. A good example was at Geelong, where you ghost out to the start line being towed by a RIB and then ‘bang’ 20 odd knots would come in.

“There is a growing feeling in the class, that really we should be saying one set of foils per regatta, just so it doesn’t turn into an arms race and also people who aren’t sponsored who don’t work for boatbuilder, can still keep up. One thing we have been doing is selling foil kits, because there are plenty of people who can make their own hulls but making foils is a lot harder.”

In terms of the calendar this year, the big one will be the World at the Gorge as we have mentioned, but an equally sizable event is expected to the Europeans in June, once again at Horsens, Denmark. However an event which probably won’t be so well attended are the UK Nationals in Saundersfoot in darkest Wales. One has to ask…..

Otherwise in the UK there are a number of open events the Moths are attending and this has already included the Bloody Mary and the Hoo Freezer, both events so chilly that wand mechanisms were freezing up.

While the format for the major championship is likely to remain a conventional windward-leeward arrangement, there is a move within the class to drastically alter the race format for Open meets, says Payne. “I didn’t do it, but in Geelong the best thing was the Bladerider shoot out, where there was this zig-zag crazy course and lots of racing close to the shore where people viewed it. We are extending that to an event in Hayling over Easter to coincide with windsurfing round the island race. I do think that Moth sailing will start to get away from the obligatory 1.2 mile windward-leeward.”

With the Velociraptor going through a 'change of ownership', Mike Cooke with a new design out this year, but otherwise the top end of the Moth market in 2009 is effectively a three horse race between Mach 2, the Bladerider and John Ilett's Fastacraft Prowlers. We’ll be talking to Bladerider’s Rohan Veal next week.