It’s not everyday that one of the original Anarchists becomes a two-time World Champion, so we’ll take this opportunity to congratulate our good friend Bora on his Hawaiian Moth Worlds win (and wish him a happy birthday as well). Given the dearth of USAnian names at the pointy end of the highest-performance fleets of foilers, multihulls, and offshore racers, how awesome that we’ve got someone who can take out the Outerridges and Burlings and Greenhalghs of the world on a level playing field; a racer that can take the helm of a foiling 45 or 72 and do it, and America, proud.
As for the Moth – that little thing that completely screwed up the sailing world’s conception of speed forever – the boat seems to be going from strength to strength despite inconsistent marketing, fragility, and high cost for such a little boat. The Hawaii worlds was limited out at 80 boats (due to space in the bay), but with the Mach 2 continuing to roll (350 boats sold in 4 years), the new Exocet proving its got wheels, a new Prowler on the way, and a rumored new American boat in the wings, we could very easily see close to 150 moths racing in Hayling Island next year, and even more at the Melbourne, OZ worlds in 2015. Here is the full rundown of everyone’s hull, foils, mast, and sails from Hawaii thanks to Andrew Lechte; Bora explains his speed in the interview above with Gretta Kruesi and Mr. Clean, but attributes much of it to his Lister/Damic main foil and the extensive aero fairings all over his boat that he printed in his basement on a 3-D printer.
What’s the secret to these most gucci of dinghies selling like hotcakes and attracting some of the biggest numbers of any class? It’s simple: SPEED. Here are the important numbers: 15-18 knots upwind (and getting higher and faster all the time). 25-30 knots downwind. 10-15 grand used. Nothing else even comes close, and the mothies tell us that a top Moth is faster than pretty much anything on the water until you get to about 45 feet…the AC45, specifically…
Here’s a clip of the winner getting doused, and here are a big pile of Thierry Martinez shots. More videos to come. Ask the Champ your own questions in the Moth Worlds thread.
