Day 114
Days remaining. 120

Measure twice, measure again. Make some tea. Ring a mate for a chat, ask him how he measured it, measure again.... Cut once...

Sometimes you have to quit measuring and let

your eye be the guide... 

Slightly chastised by an old mate who reads these ramblings, here's a post for anyone who is contemplating or currently home building a moth, to maybe give some good ideas, or maybe to make you feel comfortable that your way is miles better than mine.

Before I start however I need to be plain about a rumour I have heard on the grapevine.  This boat has NOT been made out of a redundant A Class catamaran mould.  Where that rumour began I am not sure, but anyway - just to make sure we are all clear.  When you see it you will see that it could never have been an A... It has some rocker for a start off!! 

Anyway... back to the plot... In no logical order:

1. Dry fit the thing 'til you are blue in the face, but at some point you are going to have to stick it together, so get on with it. 

2. Plan ahead.  Have a really good think about systems on the way through the build. Drilling the hole in the kicker tang and sticking it on the mast post or whatever you're using to take the mast loads is SO much easier on a pillar drill than putting it off and drilling the hole in situ using a 90* drill ;-).

3. Consider getting the thing professionally painted. It will come back looking like a million dollars and in the week it's gone you can get a straight go at making wings, gantry's, foils even.

4. The old adage is the best ever.. But if you are not sure: Measure twice, measure again. Make some tea. Ring a mate for a chat, ask him how he measured it, measure again.... Cut once...  You'll still be out maybe, but at least you'll be in the right ballpark.

5. Sometimes you measure the thing over and over and then dry fit it and it looks wrong.. Well guess what... It's probably wrong.  The human eye can see an error in simple measurement (sadly not International 14 Measurers, but the least said about that the better!) and in particular in measuring angles. If the deck is square to the centreline of the c/b case for example, then a straight carbon or metal rod down through the case, snug up against the leading or trailing edge, will be in line with the mast post and with a similar rod through the rudder pin... Now try and find a way to measure it you'd be happy with!

6. Start early and take your time and enjoy it. It's as much fun building a new boat as it is sailing one in many ways. I got snowed under with real work with this build, but it'll still be built 3 months before the Worlds start.

7. Don't scrimp on trampolines or toe straps or ropes or fittings.  Moths are ferocious on fittings and sailing a boat with poor quality trampolines or toe straps is a total fun-sponge.

8. Register it with the IMCA early so that a sail number on a nice official ISAF sticker turns up when you least expect it. It gives the boat an identity and is a really great boost to morale.

9. Be radical! Break some boundaries (not rules!) And so what if your ideas don't work. Anyone can build a carbon copy (see what I did there!) of a Mach 2 or whatever.... Be different. Try stuff that no-one else has tried out.. You might not make it work first time, but the class is about innovation and right now we're only 10 years into foiling. Milliseconds in history... You might be onto something that when you are old and grey (older and greyer in my world) you can say, I did that first and now it's on all of the America's Cup boats.... 

10. You are awesome!!! You are building one of the fastest sailing dinghies EVER. Your home built creation might even one day be the Fastest Sailing Dinghy ever clocked... Try and remember that when you come down in the night for a glass of water and smack yourself on the wing bars you left in position to work out the height of the mast stump!

D