Lowrider International Moth UK National Championship 2024 at Weymouth - Day 0

Measurement - Lowrider International Moth UK National Championship © Dougal Henshall

As the fleet starts arriving at the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy, those sailors who have yet to enjoy the delights of Weymouth must be wondering what all the fuss is about. In the driving rain and mist the visibility is no more than a couple of hundred yards though there's still a brisk 20kt South-westerly breeze that the squad ILCAs are enjoying.

However, for the lowrider Moth fleet today is mainly going to be about events onshore, for as they are now a formally constituted class, these Nationals are being run on a far more organised basis. This means that there will be a degree of pre-event measurement, though measurement in the world of the International Moths is a pretty easy task.

As long as the boats are 11ft long, are no beamier than 7ft 4in 'wingtip to wingtip' and don't have obvious hollows in the hull form (so multi-hulls are out) then the hull's good to go, all the other normal constraints found in the other restricted development classes, namely rise of floor and minimum hull weight don't apply. Ditto the rig, there's a max luff length, you're 8.25 m2 and that's pretty much it!

Except it isn't... as one of the rules that does exist has changed significantly! Back in the day you simply measured the sail itself, but today things have moved on with the area of the mast now being included. There were a few 'don't breathe' moments on one of the first sails that was measured, as although the sail itself was well within limits, add in the sail area of the mast and things become within 0.1m" of being hit with the dreaded red pen!

Measurement is though a useful exercise for the Lowriders, as in the years that have passed since a few enlightened stalwarts chose not to follow the foiling fad, Lowrider Moths have been found in barns and garaged and saved from the otherwise inevitable Viking funeral. Pulling them in out of the rain for even a cursory check is giving the Class the chance to look at - and celebrate the incredible diversity of the fleet.

For this event that range will cover the period from when the International Moth was a proper boat shape (albeit small) to the point at which the hulls were so optimised that with the addition of a set of foils, they could be the first generation flyers.

What a difference a few decades of unrestricted development can make: the Duflos hails from 1963... the Axeman some 35 years later - photo © Dougal Henshall

When W&PNSA was first proposed as the Nationals venue, the plan was to bolt the Lowriders onto the back of the Byte fleet, but in one of those twists in fortune the Moths will now outnumber the Bytes, even so all the pieces are now in place for both fleets to have a cracking event.

Racing starts tomorrow, but which time the current low pressure weather system will have blown through allowing a ridge of high pressure to develop that should deliver near perfect conditions for the Moths, a steady F3 westerly and sunshine! The next report will be from out afloat, when these amazing boats from across the decades will be heading out into the harbour!