Building miracles

History will show the significance of John Ilett's success in developing reliable dinghy foilers. Less obvious is the part played by Ilett's relentless dedication to rugged but superlight construction

Prologue
As an apprentice shipwright/boatbuilder in 1987 my original inspiration to build Moths was a magazine article showing an early round bilge skiff Moth built from strip planked balsa wood. I thought it was very cool as each timber strip was glued to the next using five-minute epoxy and steel meat skewers. One strip on one side and then one on the other, the glue dried quickly enough to pull out the skewers and carry on alternating sides as you went along. Fibreglassed and clear finished, they looked good too. In 1988 I built my own first Moth from 1.5mm pine plywood to an Ian Ward double-chine skiff design with a waterline beam of about 600mm. It had alloy everything, with holes drilled everywhere should you feel the need to save more weight. I do not know how much it weighed, but I do remember how narrow I thought it was at that time.

To read the remainder of this and many other topical technical articles, please purchase your copy of the August 2005 edition of Seahorse International Sailing, available at selected newsstands or by calling: + 44 (0) 1590 671899 or by email at: info@seahorse.co.uk

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Below: The author aloft on one of his own Prowler designs during the 2005 Moth worlds in Melbourne, won by Rohan Veal sailing another of Ilett's creations. The pair have been working together closely since 2001