Without a doubt the most talked about area of sailing so far this year has been the International Moth Class, and the recent breakthrough in the foiling technology that is now allowing these boats to fly!! The upcoming World Championship to be held this summer in Denmark will feature no less than 10 boats built by Fastacraft of Perth, Australia, all using the VTM264 resin system from Advanced Composites Group. Among these will be the current World Champion, as well as John Ilett (Managing Director of Fastacraft) in an ACG and Lavender CE sponsored boat. Lavender is the Australian distributor for ACG and has been actively involved in supporting Fastacraft in the use of ACG's materials.

The hulls, made from a simple carbon laminate over a PVC foam core, are cured between 80°C and 90°C under vacuum in a regular oven. The typical bare hull weight for these 3.3m (11ft) dinghies is just 4.7kg (around 9.3kg finished with paint) and the fully rigged boat, ready to sail, is just 30kg!

The VTM®260 system was chosen for its good tack and fast cure cycles. ACG's experience in producing high quality prepreg materials ensures that boats can be produced within the tightest of tolerances required, even when making such lightweight structures.

The International Moth class is now seeing boats sailing around 20% faster than the previous non-foiling boats, now affectionately known as "sea-huggers", with speeds hitting up to 25 knots!

Fastacraft are not stopping development, having several boats at this year's World Championship showcasing their all new fully moulded deck, higher aspect ratio foil and new trimming mechanism. They have also scaled up several foils for trials on the International 14 class and the 18ft Skiffs.

The VTM®260 series, with its 65°C to 120°C cure range, is now being widely used on projects ranging from America's Cup to the International Moths. ACG, with its own dedicated marine technical support team, really is the centre of composites technology.