“The Eagle has landed.” Ever since this phrase was transmitted from the Moon, these words have signaled a quantum leap in technology. When Moth class sailor Adam May posted these words to his blog in late summer, 2010, sailors around the world knew that the rumors were true and the first solid wing sail had appeared in the Moth class. Since that time, a total of four wings have been built for Moths, and though they have yet to ever compete in a race, they have created a firestorm within the class. Now, with wings being shipped to Australia for the 2011 Zhik Moth Worlds in Belmont (Jan 8-15), the class needs to reach a consensus on whether a wing is a sail, and if so, how to measure it. Caught in the middle are American Moth sailors Bora Gulari (2009 Moth Class World Champion) and George Peet, now en route to Australia, unsure if their boats will be allowed to compete with their new wings made by Object 2 Skiffworks. You may remember Object 2; they are the shop responsible for turning out the last two Little Americas Cup winners, and their wings. Clearly, they know a thing or two about designing wings for sailboats.
The International Moth Class can trace its history back to 1928. From the start, the class was created as a development class with just length (11ft) and sail area (8 m2) fixed. The enduring success of the class has been in large part to class rule 1.1 The International Moth is a single-handed development class boat. The intention of these class rules is to give the designer and builder the fullest liberty in design and construction, within these rules to develop and produce faster boats. Over the years, the class has evolved from scow, to skiff, to finally ultra high performance hydrofoil speedsters. With the emergence of the foiling Moth, however, the class has gone from a mostly homebuilt class to a class of production hulls (Mach 2, Assassin, Bladerider..); and with the excitement of foiling and the ease of acquiring a hull, the class has seen explosive growth in recent years. This growth has come with some pain, however. The early Bladerider hull has been all but obsoleted by the more advanced Mach 2 hull, and if you want to win the Worlds, you had better be riding the most current hull. With boats now costing upwards of $20,000, the arms race can get expensive in a hurry, but such is the nature of a development class, and if you want to play, you had better be prepared to stay on the leading edge.
In early 2010, both Gulari and May had come to the conclusion that the next big development in the Moth class would be a solid wing, similar to those seen on BMW Oracle’s trimaran in the 33rd Americas Cup. Both set out to build wings, with Adam May being the first to debut a wing sailed Moth in August, with Gulari’s emerging in October. 2 more wings were built by Object 2 in addition to Gulari’s, one for George Peet, and a spare that may also be sailed at the Worlds. May’s wing has two main elements, while Gulari’s wing has two main elements with a flap attached to the main element. Since Adam May is the classes Chief Measurer, the Moth Class Executive Committee (less May and Gulari) were asked to interpret the rules to confirm the legality of the wing, and determine how to measure them. The class response was issued on August 12, but not published until November, and created more questions than answers. Rather than rule a wing of any configuration as a single sail, the class deemed that a two-element wing is not just one sail, but a combination of a mast and a sail. This should allow May’s wing to compete, but what about Gulari’s? Here’s where the controversy gets interesting. If Gulari can prove his wing, with two elements and a flap is a two-element wing, it should comply. If the class, however, deems his wing as a three element wing, then “The IMCA Executive Committee has discussed these types of sail/mast combinations and is of the belief that under the current class rules these would either be illegal (due to not satisfying the one sail rule) OR would have to be measured in their entirety as sail area.” With this vague ruling, a turf war started. The anti wing camp, which includes builders of the some of the current Moth hulls, trying to ban the American wings claiming they violate the one sail rule and the spirit of the class.
So how would current Moth rules apply to this case? Based on the August interpretation, the leading edge element of the wing is considered a mast.
Class Rule 8.1 then states that “The overall length of mast shall not exceed 6250 mm.” The second element of a wing would then be considered the sail, with pertinent rules 8.3 “The distance between the bands (effective luff length) shall not exceed 5185 mm.” and rule 9.1 “The boat shall carry only one sail when racing, with the total sail area being not greater than 8.00 m2” Based on a strict interpretation of these rules, it’s conceivable that a wing could be built with the first element one meter larger than the second element, creating a lot of unrated area. Rumors abound that Australians John Harris and Dave Lister were designing a wing that would take advantage of this loophole, but the wing will not be coming to the Worlds in Belmont. Both May and Gulari were aware of this potential loophole and agreed to build wings to the 5185mm height and a total area of 8m2. The real contentious issue with Gulari’s wing lies in the flap that is part of the first wing element. Some may see this flap as a non-structural piece that is allowed to deflect by aerodynamic forces. Since it doesn’t support the sail and produces lift, it must be considered a sail. Gulari disagrees, reasoning that since there is no visible gap between the leading edge element and the flap, they must be considered as a single assembly. Since the class already allows camber inducers in soft sails, it would be counter intuitive to rule against similar camber inducing mechanisms in a wing sail. Gulari further notes that should wing be deemed as more than two elements, the last paragraph of the rule interpretation allows for the wing to be measured, provided that the entire area is used in the calculation.
Further, the Moth Class Measurement Manual clearly states, “Measurers should assume that anything which is not specifically prohibited is permitted.” Making the situation even more confusing is the fact that the Moth Class doesn’t control it’s own destiny, ISAF (International Sailing Federation) does. Since becoming an international class in September of 1972, any changes or interpretation of class rules needs to be ratified by ISAF, and to date, ISAF has not taken any action regarding wings. Given that ISAF already has experience with wings in both the A and C Class catamarans, it can be assumed that wings will be deemed legal, but ISAF may choose to remove some of the vagaries in the Moth interpretation by mandating their own measurement rules for wings. This ISAF guide to Measurement and Calculation of Sail Area is the document that has been used for decades to measure C-Class wings in the Little Americas Cup, and contains clear language pertaining to measuring wings with multiple elements. Section 1.1 of the manual states “The intention is to establish a reliable and simple method of measuring the whole driving area of the sail plan, including the spars, foils, and flaps (or wing sails).” Further, section 16.2.2 (b) of the document addresses flaps on wing sections, stating” devices or fairings added to a spar or wing sail shall be measured as part of that spar or wing sail.” 16.2.2 (e) further states, “An articulated wing sail, such as that shown in fig. [2] below, shall be measured as described in 16.2.2...”
In all of this debate, the one point on which nearly everyone can agree is that we want to know if a wing sail can beat the best of the soft sailed Moths. With an Americas Cup looming in wing sailed yachts, this Worlds will capture attention far beyond the class aficionados and tech geeks. This has something for everyone. As Gulari says “There is a huge importance to the class of having this wing experiment go forward. Tens of thousands of people have seen the pictures and articles about the wings Adam and I have built for this event. Moth wings are what people are talking about, even people far outside of the class. Everyone has the same questions: Will it work? Will it be faster? Will it break? Everyone wants to know if a small wing sail will work on a high performance foiling dinghy. Lets find out. Our class has a phenomenal chance here to solidify its reputation as the class at the leading edge of our sport where this sort of cool stuff happens.” The volunteers who run the Moth Class are doing their best to ensure that no one in the class feels disenfranchised, but now is the time to embrace the historical spirit of innovation within the class and allow wing development to take place. By interpreting the class rule to assume that any single wing is one sail, and using the ISAF measurement procedures for wings, development can happen in an organic and transparent way. If wings prove to be durable and faster than soft sails; the marketplace of innovation will find a way to make the technology cost effective and transportable, in the same way that hydrofoils went from an expensive experiment to commonplace. With top sailors worldwide looking for a way to make their name in the brave new world of wing sails, the Moth Class can become a haven for those with Americas Cup aspirations, as well as a new generation of speed junkies. In nature, all moths must undergo a transformation. Now it’s time for the Moth class to come out of the cocoon and spread its wings.
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