MOTH
MOTH
THE PAGE
THE PAGE
European & American
Moth Boats
"Fram III" 1959/60 Australian Champion
Walking-stick mast with pocket luff 1966
"Mark II" 5 time Australian Champion 1947 - 1954
"Rudder"magazine
article on skimmer
scow
Original Moth fleet
Inverloch

Its performance was so outstanding that two more boats - "Whoopee" & "Flutterby" - were built (see photos left) and the Inverloch YC was established. The class design parameters were then drawn up which allowed for a lot of design experimentation within a few restrictions.
In 1929 an 11ft development class was designed in the United States and called the Moth Boat. This class quickly caught on in America and Europe and in 1935 became the International Moth Class Association.
When Len Morris saw an article in "Rudder" magazine showing a scow version of the American Moth Boat (see photo below), he decided that "Moth" was a better name for the class than "Inverloch Eleven Foot Class" so he changed the name and adopted the moth insingnia. Ironically the International Moth Class adopted an M in a circle as its insignia.
The two classes developed into quite different designs. The International Moth was primarily round-bilged with a low-aspect-ratio sail (see photo below), while the Australian class kept developing and refining the scow shape and had a much larger sail area.
The Australian Moth was an instant success and spread to every state. The Victorian Moth Class Association was formed at Inverloch in 1936. In 1966 the Moth became officially recognised as a national class and moves began to merge with the international organisation, which was achieved in 1972. The Australian sailplan and insignia were adopted and hiking wings were allowed.
Australian hull design has gone from the 50kg "mark II" flat bottomed hard chine scow of the 1940's and 50's (see photos below) to the round-bottomed "mouldie" of the late 1950's (see photo right) to the double-chined hulls of the 1960's (see photos right). With the addition of wings, the hull became much narrower and evolved into the current foiling boats with their 10kg hulls. Moths have always been at the forefront of sailing development and no doubt will continue to be in the future.
Because of the special connection between Inverloch and the Moth class we place top priority on celebrating the Moth at the annual Inverloch Classic Wooden Dinghy Regatta. We hope to build up a fleet of classic Moths representing each stage of their early design evolution. At the last regatta we had beautiful examples of mouldie and double-chine Moths (see photos right) and we hope to have earlier boats from the Mark II era in the future.
If you have a classic Moth please contact us and come and join us at one or all of our events.
Click on the link for the International Moth Class Association of Australia website.
Click on the link for the International website.
Click on the link for the Wikipedia page on the Moth.
Click on the link for a list of Australian Champions:
Click on the link for the Scow Moth Queensland Facebook group.
Click on the link for the Scow Moth Club Facebook group.
The Australian Moth had its humble beginnings as the Inverloch Eleven Foot Class . It was designed in 1928 by Len Morris as an 11ft hard-chined scow
with a single sail of 80 sq. feet. The original boat
was called "Olive" after his wife and currently is on display at Albert Park YC (see photo left).
"Flutterby"
Moth number 3
& eight time Australian Champion 1933-1947
"Flutterby"
under construction
"Whoopee"
Moth number 2
"Olive"
Moth number 1 & first Australian Champion 1932/33
Artist Russell Drysdale & art critic George Bell
with Moth number 6 "Toinette"
"Marina"
Moth number 4
"Imperium"
1969 & 1970 World Champion
with pocket luff mainsail.
Restored mouldie Moth
at the Inverloch CWD Regatta
Newly built double-chine Moth
at the Inverloch CWD Regatta
Restored double-chine Moth
at the Inverloch CWD Regatta
Restored double-chine Moth at the
Inverloch CWD Regatta
Restored double-chine Moth
at the Inverloch CWD Regatta
Restored double-chine Moth
at the Inverloch CWD Regatta
Mark II Moths early 1950's