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Craziest looking foiling boat I've seen is still the International Moth: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1SN1gSkqvy0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1SN1gSkqvy0

talkingquickly 13y ago
I had a very early moth (before they put foils on them) which was still statically unstable. Inland waters with unpredictable winds meant you could go from strong wind to nothing almost instantly and with very little indication it was going to happen. I remember spending a lot of time in the water...
- nl 13y ago
  I leant to sail in a Moth (actually my Dad's). It was a 1960's tunnel hulled skiff, which he got cheap because they were banned for being too fast (ironic for what came later to the Moth's class). It's a great boat - stable, and fast when you want it to be.
  - talkingquickly 13y ago
    Very cool. The thing I really like about the early ones was that as an experimental class, you could get boats that were incredibly different to one another but still technically "moths". Much like early formula racing, there really was the latitude to tune the boat as well as your technique. Not that I ever did with this one, it was about thirty years old and took all of my effort just to learn how to keep it upright. You also couldn't moor it anywhere because it would fall over if not moving which meant leaving it on its side at the jetti...
    - nl 13y ago
      Yeah, and the "experimental class" thing was why I never really understood why they banned the tunnel hulls. It's too bad in a way, because in some conditions they might have been competitive with the unstable skiffs that dominated until the foils came along. I'm in Australia, and we just sail off the beach, and the Scow shape was perfect for that. There's an excellent discussion of the design at [1]. I have to say I'd love to try out a foiling Moth one day though. [1] http://www.moth.asn.au/forum/3-hull-shape/533-scows http://www.moth.asn.au/forum/3-hull-shape/533-scows
- deleted 13y ago
  [deleted]
mhandley 13y ago
The Moths are insanely fast once they get onto the foils. This video from the annual Bloody Mary race at my sailing club captures the difference nicely. It's a two hour midwinter handicap race with over 300 boats entered. The Moths start 1.5 hours after the first boats, and in 2013 they won. This year though, it wasn't quite windy enough for them to stay on the foil through all their tacks so they didn't quite catch the leaders. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIpzd5m0xhg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIpzd5m0xhg
rkangel 13y ago
I was just about to point that one out. I was more than a little surprised by their assertion that "the Flying Phantom is the first product to bring the levitation experience to the commercial market".
Zigurd 13y ago
It looks like launching can be wet and awkward

talkingquickly 13y ago

I had a very early moth (before they put foils on them) which was still statically unstable. Inland waters with unpredictable winds meant you could go from strong wind to nothing almost instantly and with very little indication it was going to happen. I remember spending a lot of time in the water...

nl 13y ago
I leant to sail in a Moth (actually my Dad's). It was a 1960's tunnel hulled skiff, which he got cheap because they were banned for being too fast (ironic for what came later to the Moth's class). It's a great boat - stable, and fast when you want it to be.
- talkingquickly 13y ago
  Very cool. The thing I really like about the early ones was that as an experimental class, you could get boats that were incredibly different to one another but still technically "moths". Much like early formula racing, there really was the latitude to tune the boat as well as your technique. Not that I ever did with this one, it was about thirty years old and took all of my effort just to learn how to keep it upright. You also couldn't moor it anywhere because it would fall over if not moving which meant leaving it on its side at the jetti...
  - nl 13y ago
    Yeah, and the "experimental class" thing was why I never really understood why they banned the tunnel hulls. It's too bad in a way, because in some conditions they might have been competitive with the unstable skiffs that dominated until the foils came along. I'm in Australia, and we just sail off the beach, and the Scow shape was perfect for that. There's an excellent discussion of the design at [1]. I have to say I'd love to try out a foiling Moth one day though. [1] http://www.moth.asn.au/forum/3-hull-shape/533-scows http://www.moth.asn.au/forum/3-hull-shape/533-scows
deleted 13y ago
[deleted]

mhandley 13y ago

The Moths are insanely fast once they get onto the foils. This video from the annual Bloody Mary race at my sailing club captures the difference nicely. It's a two hour midwinter handicap race with over 300 boats entered. The Moths start 1.5 hours after the first boats, and in 2013 they won. This year though, it wasn't quite windy enough for them to stay on the foil through all their tacks so they didn't quite catch the leaders. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIpzd5m0xhg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIpzd5m0xhg

rkangel 13y ago

I was just about to point that one out. I was more than a little surprised by their assertion that "the Flying Phantom is the first product to bring the levitation experience to the commercial market".

Zigurd 13y ago

It looks like launching can be wet and awkward