Abarth & Champion Mach2 Moth sailor/pilot; Simon Payne

2012 sees the ZHIK Moth World Championships take place at Campioni, Lake Garda, Italy, in August and Abarth Brand Ambassador, Simon Payne, will be fighting to retake the world title.

What is a Moth? Weighing only 30kg with a sail area of ​​8 square meters it is ‘small and wicked’ – often referred to as Formula 1 on water! Using advanced construction techniques and materials such as composites and carbon fibre it is at the leading edge of yacht racing technology. These boats ‘fly’ on foils – same as the aerofoils on a racing car – that are adjustable while racing – so Simon isn’t just trimming the sail and rudder; he’s changing the ‘attitude’ and flight height during the race!

Overall Length: 3,355 m

Beam: 2,250 m

Max luff length: 5,185 m

Max mast length: 6,250 m

Hull weight: circa 10-20 kgs

Sail area: 8m

Yard Stick: 104

Restrictions: Multihulls, trapezes, moveable seats and sailboards are Prohibited.

Optimum skipper weight 60-80kgs

Where did the Moth come from?… The current International moth is not a new class; although the current design appeared in 2004. The first, in Australia, in 1928 when an innovative sailing enthusiast, Len Morris, built a single sail flat bottomed boat to sail at a little seaside resort near Melbourne… would he know then what he had started! Things have come on a long way – The Moth is a development class, evolved from a mono hull in the 1930s to today’s high tech foiling racers that require extreme skill to maximise performance. Cotton sails and wood now replaced with space-age and carbon materials allowing these sailing athletes to balance the Moth on its hydrofoils and achieving remarkable speeds and acceleration that put the Moths at the pinnacle of yacht design and development. The International Moth Class is now globally recognised and set for greater success and coverage in the future.