Moth ... no longer 11ft ...

Originally posted by JohnJack Originally posted by Rupert I asked about this at one time, and no rule changes were needed for the gantry or bowsprit. Apparently, there is no rule on the size of pintle's and gudgeons, and in a single sailed boat, I don't think it ever came to mind to ban bowsprits. In a sense I still agree with the OP. It does seem to push the spirit of the rule, but if the actual sailors are happy, what has it to do with me, really. The 14 adding the snout support is similar, and to me, worse shifting of the length rules. As for overall and waterline length, the Moth has always been an overall hull length. The lwl for a scow Moth is a fair amount less than 11 feet. Where is the waterline on a foiler??

Either 11 feet or about 6 inches?

Originally posted by 17mika Originally posted by 2547 With all that gubbins off the bow and stern the Moth is no long really an 11ft dinghy ... Well bowsprits and gantrys have to be removable and do not increase buoyancy, so it's definetly hard to consider them as part of the hull lenght.

All box rules are arbitary restrictions though. The Moth rules are framed so that the sticks at each end can't contribute to the hydrodynamics of the hull, which is a pretty reasonable measure of given length. Not that different to say spars overhanging the ends. Funny how the boom overhanging the stern* is something no-one seems bothered about, but the bowsprit overhanging the bow is a bit more serious..

[added later] * speaking generally that is. not specifically about Moths.

Edited by JimC - 17 Jun 15 at 8:26pm

What does it matter, none of its in the water.

The moth rules started pretty simple - 11ft long, 88 sq ft sail, 17 ft luff, and all the
new rules ( with the exception of allowing wands ) are restrictions and not changes to the original ruleset. - ie limited max beam, no windsurfers, no catamarans, limited length for gantries and bowsprits, etc, etc.
A true development class - with no rule changes as such in the 30 or 40 years since the class was formed from the various moths around the world ( apart from the wands as mentioned) the PY has halved - from the same as a Solo to 550 ( or even lower at Hayling ).