Fat Tire
Like big knobbies on your Cannondale, a big fat wingmast on a Moth just makes it look bad-ass. Check out the new foiling moth "Whisper," that Glen Oldfield built specifically to withstand the loads imparted by the free-standing, overrotating wingmast. The mast was originally built for a Bladerider concept, but the company’s hard times meant no buyer, so Glen gets to keep his toy. Here’s more from Glen:
The hull construction is a bit of a secret, obviously there is a wood veneer on the outside, but 90% of the hull is fibreglass. I was on a mission to prove that carbon fibre isn’t the only answer. plus 120gsm carbon is pricey. I think all the materials for the hull cost $700.00. The hull weight was good, 4.8kg off the mould, the deck was 1.8kg, the whole lot is 29kg. the hull is as tough as, and resists denting far better then foam sandwich. Wings, mast, foils and boom are carbon, with the mast being a real combo, kevlar/glass/carbon…they all make an appearance.
The mast rotation is controlled from the overration arm attached to the boom to keep a constant mast AOA relationship with the boom. It does rotate automatically right up to the point where you pull on heaps of vang. I am looking to resolve this, for now I just push the arm after a tack, it’s easily reached.
The mast is being held in place by a dedicated carbon fibre spherical bearing on the deck and a 10mm pin down in the bilge of the hull that runs on an acme thread that can be spun to create over 1meter of mast tip rake fore and aft, while sailing. The separation of these two parts is 400mm and the hull is only 210mm wide at this point. The mast is 5.6m tall off the deck meaning a 14:1 leverage ratio. …not insignificant. The mast dims are 187mm fore/aft and 68mm wide. This is larger than a tornado and a-class mast, the large size was the only way to keep the weight down – funny that.
At the moment, I just want me and the boat to hold together, I haven’t sailed a moth for 3 years and not done any racing since the wolds in Melbourne 2004/2005. I will consider myself lucky if I make it out alive…. I’m not 20 anymore.
