Please select your home edition
Edition
Allen Brothers

Dremel: The Moth sailor's best friend

by Mark Jardine 12 Jul 2018 12:28 BST 11-14 July 2018
The Dremel © Mark Jardine / IMCA UK

One of the familiar sounds in the dinghy park at any International Moth event is the whirr of the battery-powered Dremel and then the grind of carbon.

Modifications and upgrades take place constantly and it's during events that sailors spot changes on other boats and then implement it on their boat before the day's racing.

I spoke to Tom Offer about the Moth sailor's friend...

"The Dremel is multi-purpose; you've got a cutting tool, a drilling piece and you can use it in a variety of different ways - grinding and cutting bits of carbon – it works for everything really."

The Moth class is the ultimate tinkerer's boat and many of the Moth suppliers turn up to events with a batch of new parts: "You're always trying new bits of equipment and when you put something new on there's always going to be a bit of fettling to do, making sure that a new bit of carbon fits flush with the area you're marrying it up to – there's always a bit of trimming involved."

As with any power tool, and some of the tight, enclosed spaces that the work needs to be done on, accidents can happen - as Tom knows from personal experience:

"With my new Rocket SSD I had to put Exocet foils on it, and fitting the foils is quite a precise bit of work getting the foils pinned at just the right angle of attack. I had the boat upside-down on trestles with the main foil in place and I had to oversize the holes on the centreboard case so that I could then glue some bushes in to hold everything in the right place.

"Underneath the fairing is quite difficult to get to and so the Dremel had to be underneath the fairing, so I could get a nice angle onto the centreboard case to make the hole that I wanted to make. I was using a tile cutting piece so the Dremel spins at quite a high rate and was holding it by my finger tips as the rest of the Dremel was underneath the fairing, tapping the centreboard case with the cutter, and unfortunately my fingers touched the spinning area of the tool and I had to let it go, meaning it slid inside the fairing and lodged itself there, still spinning.

"Luckily the bit was spinning in air, but I knew I couldn't shake or move the boat as I'm sure it would have done some damage, so I just had to wait for the battery to run out three hours later!"

Tom's sure the Moth class would be lost without the Dremel:

"While there are other tools out there, the battery-powered Dremel is pretty unique in the way you can apply it to the bits you need to do on the boat."

As the Moth class continues to evolve I'm sure the sound of Dremels in the dinghy park will continue well into the future.

Related Articles

Jazz Turner Video Interview
How she Faced Everything And Rose during Project FEAR I travelled to Brighton Marina to catch up with Jazz, talking about her own sailing, the challenges she faced during the circumnavigation, how the money raised will be used, and a glimpse of her future projects! Posted on 10 Jul
Understanding sMRT Alert with Jack Sharland
Man Overboard Devices have come a long way in the last few years Man Overboard Devices have come a long way in the last few years with more features packed into smaller devices, but with all these features it can sometimes be difficult to understand what they all do. Posted on 9 Jul
The Ocean Race Europe Video Preview
We speak to Phil Lawrence, Peter Rusch & Pip Hare to find out more The Ocean Race Europe will take place between 10 August & 21 September, following a debut event in the summer of 2021. The racing is in IMOCA yachts, the same as the Vendée Globe, but this time with 4 crew and an OBR who will document the action on board. Posted on 8 Jul
Foiling Frenzy at Fraglia Vela Malcesine
The Moth Worlds at Lake Garda are something else! The Moth Worlds at Lake Garda are something else! Regardless of where sailors are in their careers, or the reputation they have, everyone wants to be there and have a tilt at the title. Posted on 7 Jul
The oldest video footage of Moth sailing
A look back into our video archive, to when the name of this class first settled down We delve into our video archive to find the oldest possible videos that show Moth racing. Are these International Moths, British Moths... or was the name still Olive, Inverloch 11ft, National Moth or Brent One-Design?! Posted on 6 Jul
The power of tech
What is the cost of safety? How do you measure it? More importantly, how do you appreciate it? What is the cost of safety? How do you measure it? More importantly, how do you appreciate it? Posted on 2 Jul
An evening with the Scaramouche Sailing Trust
Sailing hasn't always been a sport for inner-city state schools like the Greig City Academy Sailing hasn't always been a sport for inner-city state schools like the Greig City Academy (GCA). But they've shown it can be accessible to everyone, with amazing results. Posted on 2 Jul
Jazz Turner completes Project FEAR
Drama right to the end in her non-stop, solo, unassisted navigation of the British Isles Jazz Turner has completed Project FEAR, her non-stop, solo, unassisted navigation of the British Isles in her Albin 27 yacht. A flotilla of supporters met her in Seaford Bay, which grew and grew the closer they came to Brighton Marina. Posted on 1 Jul
Project FEAR is in the final few days
Charity circumnavigation almost over, in record time, with a record total raised Jazz Turner is expected to reach home (Brighton Marina) on Monday 30th June or Tuesday 1st July. She has sailed round the British Isles - all round Ireland and the Shetland Islands - without any assistance in 27 days so far. Posted on 28 Jun
Funding for clubs transforms sailing opportunities
During the latest RYA Participation Webinar we heard from UK clubs about their experiences During the latest RYA Participation Webinar we heard from a range of UK clubs, walking through their case studies, and then heard from experts in finance who talked us through the opportunities and pitfalls of acquiring funds. Posted on 26 Jun