Home Build International Moth Blog 9: Time for a chop and change to Valkyrie
by James Sainsbury 9 Oct 2019 14:15 BST
James Sainsbury sailing Valkyrie © Mark Jardine
If you were following the build of Valkyrie back in 2017/18, you would have been aware of some of the key features of this new Moth. The key features being the curved track, to reduce loads and also take them away from the king post, and a proper deck sweeping end plated sail.
The design has worked brilliantly, the boat is super powerful and very fast in a straight line.
It has been a great year sailing Valkyrie, the main highlight was clocking over 30 knots at Rutland Water in the winter and a top ten overall result at an open event.
However, as the season is done, it's time for a bit of a remodel to improve its manoeuvrability before the winter circuit starts.
The key aim of the next step in Valkyrie's life is to raise her wings. This is no small task, but the first cut is always the most painful. A few beers were definitely needed to do what had to be done!
From here, new angled sockets will be made to raise the wings from a very flat 320mm of rise to a sky scraping 530mm.
The reason for this change is to raise the wings away from the water to help early take off speeds and to let increased boat heel be used upwind and during manoeuvres.
Hopefully we'll be back on the water before Christmas!