Foiling Moths – the DevelopMENTAL class - Part One

by John Curnow on 20 Apr 2010 Simon Payne is the new 2010 Moth World Champion. He loves the fact that the class is all about development and is equally clear about just how much of the winning factor with a foiling Moth, is purely mental. Strap in and come for a blast, as he takes us through his life and the interesting things he has to say, from his observations after some 30 years of sailing.

Simon is 45 years of age and hails from Emsworth in the UK, which is just near Hayling Island, directly south of London, six or seven miles from Portsmouth on the south coast of England. This new trophy is not the first time he's had this prestigious title, either. The first one was back in 2006.

A few years ago, when Simon had come ashore at the end of a hard day on the water at the Australian Moth titles at what was then Skandia Geelong Week he grimaced 'I feel about 60 after that'

Just recently, he had a chance to revisit that comment and said, 'Yeah, well things have progressed, because now I look about 60 too! It does make me smile, though, as the first two places in these 2010 Moth Worlds had an average age of 49 and a half years.'

There's probably something in that fact alone, which is what prompted Simon to state, 'Yeah, I think it's technical, but I also think that things happen pretty quickly at Moth World Championships and you need to keep a cool head and a bit of experience isn't a bad thing to help you achieve that. I saw a lot of people blow up at the regatta, and when you've been around for a little bit, it's kind of easier to handle all that stuff and keep some perspective. They certainly are physical boats, but when you've sailed them for a while, you become a bit more economical with your movements.'

Like any true champion, Simon is no overnight sensation. His life is probably a little bit like being in two parts, prior to returning to sailing and where he is now. Originally, he had been completely captivated by traditional Moths. 'I may have started sailing a little bit too late. I was 15 and back in Birmingham, which is a place in the UK that you can't get any further from the sea. There's a little gravel pit called Olton Mere, it was created by the Napoleonic prisoners of war and it was really only about 30 acres.'

'A guy called Roger Angell, who went on to become a double World Moth Champion in the low riding days, had a Moth. I just loved the development of it and the speed these little things went. Back then they were made out of 1.5mm plywood, broke regularly and you needed a new hull every year. I guess I've always had a Moth of some sort, since then.'

In 1986, Simon did his first Moth event, the European Championships, in what was then West Germany. He won the first three races there (his pal, Roger Angell, got the title), but his fondest memory of the time on Ratzeburg Lake was, '…when you landed on the leeward shore to rest and then the East German border guards pointed guns at you and told you to get lost.' He won his first European Championship in 1994 at Estavayer-Le-Lac, Switzerland, which was still in the low riding days.

He sailed 470’s and then 505’s and lots of other stuff at the time, even going to the Seoul Olympics in 88 as the tune up in the 470s. Back home in the UK Jason Belben had won the trials, who is interestingly, also now sailing Moths.

'I did not have enough money then and wasn't really experienced, so I was really lucky to go and get a taste of the Olympic dream.'

Returning from Germany in 1994, Simon got married and had kids and so forth, so sailing definitely took a back seat for while. He was involved in a variety of marketing roles and activities thereafter.

As Simon puts it, 'Yeah. You know how it is. You meet a girl, think sensible thoughts about getting a job etcetera and so for a very long time, I didn't really sail that much.'

His friend from that Birmingham gravel pit, Roger Angell, accompanied Simon to the 2004 Moth World Championships in Les Sables d'Olonne, which were essentially a low-ride Moth event. 'Not long afterwards I found myself divorced and when I didn't have my children every other weekend, I kind of wondered what I should do.'

'Eventually I thought, ‘I wonder if I can still win races?' So I took some time, got a foiling Moth and won the Worlds in 2006 at Horsens in Denmark. I guess I've always been doing it since then,' is how Simon sums up that passage of time in his life.

He then adds, 'I've got a wonderful girlfriend now and I crew for her in a little RS 200. When I've got some free time, I get my Moth out.'

Asked about the class, as he's seen it over time, Simon says, 'The Moth class goes way back to when a young Australian, named Len Morris, built one in about 1928. What I love about the class is that our DNA continues all the way through to today and this is why it takes new sailors a little bit of time to understand the boat and its attributes.'

For sure, a foiling Moth is a quick boat, but just how quick and in what types of water, is an interesting question. 'It's interesting because it is different, all over the world, but I think you can lift off in seven knots of breeze pretty acceptably.

Maybe you can lift off in less, but you'll be consistently foiling in around seven. And you can do so much to your boat. You can put different sails on, different masts, different foils - if you're a bigger person, stick a bigger foil on,' Simon stated.

So even at this very elite level, there are subtle differences, despite the fact that top 19 and some 26 of all 43 boats in the fleet were the McDougall/McConaghy Mach2 vessel.

'There are a lot of Mach2's but they do vary. Dalton was using double wands, some people don't use a Mach2 rig, they might use other spars or different sails, or something like that. The foil is important, but we all use pretty much the same. 'How you use that foil and the tuning aspects, the wand ratio and the wand gearing to the foil flap, that's the evolving art. This is where the good guys get it right, to combine speed with stability, where as the guys a bit further back are still learning about that.'

'Think of it a bit like racing cars, where you change the diff ratio or the aerodynamic settings to suit the track in question. The Mach2 is no different it would seem. We've all got the same basic tools, but how people apply them, is quite different,' Simon pointed out.

So then, given that this is a development class, the way forward might not be so theoretical as it is trial and error, in a way. When asked if you just try a lot of things, until you nail it, Simon said, 'I totally agree. I think what we've got in the Mach2, is an exceptional platform and at some point, we may see a foil development, where maybe an upgraded front lifting foil just plugs on, if it's right. I don't necessarily think going forward there has to be a Mach 3, but I do think there's an opportunity to refine things as we learn. We're very fortunate that Andrew McDougal is the designer. He's also so immersed in it, always developing and trying new things, that when those advances bubble to the surface, they can be added to the production boat.'

'I'm speculating a little bit, but if at some point we get a new rudder foil, which goes really fast or a new lifting foil, then the joint can be the same or we can sell it as an accessory or an upgrade. The only constant in Moths really, is change,' Simon said of the 19 Mach2s in the Top 20. 26 of the 43-boat fleet were, in fact, the super cool black wonders from McDougall/McConaghy.

'A couple of years ago you had to have a Bladerider to do really well. Prior to that it was Prowler's and right now it's Mach2s. Who knows where we'll be. But one thing I can guarantee you, is that somebody, somewhere is working on a new design.'

Perhaps that is the Mach 3, but Simon would not be drawn into that, preferring to talk about the success of the McDougall/McConaghy Mach2, 'Well you know, whether it's us or anybody else, the Mach2 has its shot and it is the design of the moment. One of the reasons they're so popular, is that we have the ability to supply them regularly. Two to three complete boats leave the McConaghy China factory every week.'

'We have a good relationship with Jonno Morris and Mark Evans at McConaghy. What I love about working with Jonno and Mark is that they're very passionate about the whole thing. They care deeply about the customer, and hugely about their products. I regard winning the worlds and getting all these votes, as a huge team effort. Even though we probably all work slightly different businesses and we have our own ways of paying each other, I feel we're all part of a team that works for Mach2, which is unusual in these times.'

As the discussion developed, Simon went on to add, 'I really don't believe there's an excuse to say that the conditions at any particular event were this or that. The Moth is such a tuneable boat and frankly, with the events that we've been to, it's really obvious what wind you're going to get there. Dubai was never going to be windy and the Gorge was never going to be light! So you do what you can in order to optimise yourself and your performance for those conditions.'

'Clearly, sometimes if you weigh 90 kilos or alternatively 50 kilos, it's going to be an advantage, but the job of any sailor, is to take that offset out of the equation and prepare accordingly. One example is Andrew McDougall, who at 78 kilos or whatever he is (and 54 years of age, just quietly), was the first to foil in Dubai and was sensationally quick in the light stuff.'

'Why? Because he doesn't regard his weight as an excuse and just gets on with it. He understands the factors he's got to play with and makes the most of it.'

For the record, Simon is a welterweight, 69 kilograms and said, 'I still look at this trophy and then look at the people I'm sailing with and think, ‘What am I doing in this company?' It amazes me sometimes. I'm just a lucky guy.'

Sticking with the weight question for a while, we looked at how a Laser sailor may have taken 12 kilos off for Qingdao, but then be back up at the previous weight for Weymouth. Asked if he saw this as necessary or appropriate, Simon responded with, 'Absolutely. I think there needs to be an element of that.'

'I do think that it was a little surprising that the US guys up in the mid 80 kilo range did not attempt to lose weight for the Dubai Worlds. There may be three reasons for that. One they couldn't, two they didn't think they needed to, or three, they generally expected the conditions to be different.'

'We're not pushing water, so as soon as we're on the hydrofoils, we're overpowered upwind, anyway. At that time you've got nearly 20 knots of breeze over your sails and the boat's doing between 10 and 14 knots upwind, as soon as you lift off.'

'There's no issue for a big guy, once he's on the foils. We're not governed so much like the Olympic classes. I stuck a really soft mast on the boat for training in the breeze that we had the week beforehand and I was every bit as quick as Bora Gulari' (the immediate past World Champ).

'You just have to know what's happening. My weight doesn't change and I can't make it change.'

Simon actually had a knee operation in December last year, so he had '…lower expectations than most. I had only sailed my boat five times before I went to Dubai', which is why a lot of people may have been surprised. 'I was too. Sometimes you get there and you think, I'm on the pace and I can tack, I can gybe and I can hike. Then you think ‘What's stopping me doing well? Really?'

Given that the Puma World Championships in Dubai offered a lot of challenges, Simon was asked about the parallels to keel boats, where some would say that really heavy conditions sort a fleet out, where as in dinghies, the really light conditions sort out the sailors from the athletes.

'To me, there are three things that make up a good Moth sailor - a fast boat, a good sailor, and the level of physical ability that can marry the two together.'

So then, it wasn't so much a strength and physicality regatta, as it was a sailing regatta, Simon. 'Yes, and I think that's a good way of putting it. It did separate some of the sailors from the athletes. I think the other thing to point out, is that we are a sailing class that happens to foil. We are not a foiling class that sails. We are not bound to only ever sail in 20 knots. We are not wind surfers. We are an ISAF class that's been around for a long time.'

The race manual for Moths does not state there will be no racing until there is 12 knots of breeze, similarly, 'You don't wait until we're shouting ‘Yeeha!' before you get us going. We're a bit more professional than that. It's great fun to foil, but you get what you get, and it's your job to optimise your performance for that. It is not your job to whine about it and try and change things. Good sailors treat it as a project, understand what they need to do, understand a brief and try to deliver on that, whether it's windy or light, although every race at the worlds was fully foilable'

It's going to be an exciting event, the next Moth World Championships at Belmont on Lake Macquarie, which is between Sydney and Newcastle on the New South Wales coast of Australia. The area is known for the northeasters that can blow at 20 knots for what seems like days on end, but it can also be very soft indeed.

To which Simon very simply stated, 'Yeah. If it does, it does, but a good, rounded sailor will prepare for when it's not. If you are sitting there thinking, ‘Wow. I hope it blows,' then by definition you're not optimised for the rest of it. I think that's what we saw in Dubai. I don't know which way Mecca was, but people were praying to it, just to get some breeze. To me the first thing I see, is that they've got a flaw in their plan, because I can hack it in a breeze. I might not be the first boat over the line, but I'll be in the top three.'

And as we just saw, he can certainly make a fist of the light stuff. All of which sounds like a good place to leave it now and pick it up again for Part two of 'Simon Payne and the developMENTAL class.'