2016 was a great year for Lennon Sails, winning both the I14 and Moth Worlds. Paul Goodison’s win at the Moth Worlds in Japan was a very encouraging start: Mike’s victory in the Moth Europeans continued the run of success with other Lennon users in second and third. However lurking in the background was Rob Greenhalgh who made his talent and righting moment tell by winning both the National Championship and the Amlin regatta in Bermuda using a North.

Mike has been hard at work for the last six months with Paul Goodison and Dylan Fletcher who are now our chief testers. The A3m was always on the flat side of the mean and it had become clear to Mike that the North had an edge in certain conditions and he needed to do some more development.

Dylan Fletcher on his way to 2nd place in Amlin Bermuda 2016

The first fruits of the work with Paul Goodison and Dylan Fletcher is the A4m which was first used in anger in Bermuda and released for sale in January 2017. Rob Greenhalgh did not win easily in Bermuda. Unfortunately Paul could only sail for part of the series as his work in the Americas Cup team had to come first but if one compares Paul’s results with Rob’s in the races in which they both sailed Paul may well have taken the event had he been able to sail all the races. Dylan was also competitive with Rob up to the last day and led the regatta for a time, finishing second overall. But for a broken vang Dylan may well have taken 1st overall.

A comparison between the A4m and A3m showing the additional depth in the base of A4m with the flatter head.

Mike will continue to work with Paul Goodison who is currently living in Bermuda and working for the Artemis AC syndicate. Conditions for testing are enviable, making for fast developments. A number of the AC sailors have taken their Moths for a bit of recreation, including Scott Babbage and Iain Jensen, so there is no shortage of tuning partners. Mike will also be working with Dylan who will be able to devote more time to his Moth sailing in this post Olympic year.

The target for all the Moth sailors is the next World Championships which are on Lake Garda this year although not at the windy end of the lake so a mixed bag of conditions can be expected.