Andrew McDougall has been making Moths go faster and delivering more fun per kilo ever since he was a teenager. Blue Robinson spoke to this passionate sailor and engineer about creating a level of excellence to foil the opposition until 2065

Seahorse Magazine:When did you start getting interested in the Moth class?

Andrew McDougall: Well, Blue, that’s like asking a lady her age! OK, I built my first Moth when I was 15 years old…

SH: And how was that process?

AM: Maybe not the first Moth, but the second one I built, my father dropped me off at a plywood factory where I weighed 400 sheets of plywood, picking out the four lightest ones. Then I came home and, using a hand plane, took half a veneer off each side of the plywood to make them lighter…

SH: And what were your goals back then?

AM: It’s a funny one as my family were very much non-sporty; sport was just a diversion to them… they were very artistic, political and cerebral and there was no push to do anything physical. I had a lot of fun but I also promised myself I would never get into sailing as a business. I also promised myself I would never own a computer until I could talk to it. I broke both of those promises.