Lennon Sails 2021 End of Season Round-Up
by Mike Lennon 17 Dec 2021 06:00 PST
Glen Truswell wins the 2021 International Canoe UK Nationals at the WPNSA powered by Lennon Sails © Adam Bowers
Firstly the Canoe - a new venture for Lennon but when former I14 world champ Glen Truswell asked us to look at his rotating Canoe rig and consider the best option to enhance this innovative concept, we could only say yes.
We chose to go with a new cloth we had already successfully tried in the Moth Class. i-LEX is a blend of UHM Dyneema and black Aramids laid down as filaments over thermosetting glue. The filaments are laid out in several directions, making a super stable and very light matrix. The finished cloth contains no films, so is not a conventional sailcloth laminate. The results are spectacular, slashing weight and stretch.
Using the lightest available, weighing in at just over 100 grams/m2 (the equivalent-next best laminate in stretch terms is nearly double the weight).
We chose a moderate path on head width and roach profile to ensure ease of control and to get the heeling force a little lower.
With the second iteration, which contained surprising few modifications on the first sail, Glen went on to take the UK Nationals at his first attempt.
International Moth
Despite Lennon Sails not being on the winning boat at the Moth worlds, our sails have been highly successful across many other prestigious events this year, including the UK nationals, dominating the top 10 including 1st, 2nd and 3rd.
The International Regatta, a warm-up event for the Worlds, was also taken using Lennon Sails.
In the lead-up to the Worlds, Lennon was working with Dylan Fletcher and Ruggi Tita, who were both in Tokyo winning gold medals before the event. Despite this both found time to do Moth sail development with us. Also with a busy schedule recently, helping us with R&D was Paul Goodison who has won the Moth worlds three times in recent years. Paul switched from the Exocet design Moth to the Beiker only a few weeks before the worlds, so had a bit to learn on top of the usual sharpness required by this athletic class.
Dylan was a little on the back foot, turning up to the event very late and in a boat he had only sailed for a couple of days.
All three of them made the top 10 with Paul in third, narrowly missing out on second due to gear failure.
Tita slipped from 3rd to 7th on the last day, as being at the lightest end of the competitive spectrum (around 70kg), suffered sailing in the infamous Garda Pele wind for last two races which suited the heavier guys.
Tita, along with Garda Lab (the Manta Moth builder), developed a new wishbone boom which Tita switched to leading up the worlds. This led to some frantic sail development just before the event. The wishbone allows for a single skin decksweeper making this part of the sail smoother and easier to manage. The question is does the improved sail negate the extra boom windage?! We love the sail though - it's easier to make, lighter and smoother.
Also thanks to team A7i DS! While Paul, Ruggi and Dylan used the A6iDS, David Hivey (highest place Corinthian) and Philip Buhl (Germany Laser rep in Tokyo) used the A7i. Both finishing just outside the top 10. David Hivey wanted to pursue the A7 (fuller sail body) concept due to being at the heavier end of the weight spectrum. The A7 has its roots in the A5 with which Paul Goodison won 3 world titles.
Going forward we continue to develop the sails and have good results moving the downhaul from its upper traditional position to the DS tack - this switch makes the tack attachment the primary position. We have also done some aero work to understand better how the sail and boat interact. This was very informative!
Regarding the sail cloth choice - we still have membrane available but we continue to push with i-LEX. The manufacturer has made some detailed changes to the fabric construction and glue technology for 2022 further improving this outstanding fabric.
We have played with some other options and will continue to test as you would expect, but will be continuing with I-LEX for 2022.
International 14
For the first time in history the same boat won every race at 2021 POW week. Of course that included the prestigious POW cup. The 14 has the unusual tradition of a one race national championship, with the other races making up the points week. Winning both has been done quite a few times but never every race.
Well done to Glen Truswell and Ed Fitzgerald on making history in this old class.
Glen and Ed used Lennon Membrane Sails made two years ago with the fuller asymmetric design. It took Glen and Ed a few weeks to find the right up set up earlier in the season but once they found it, domination occurred... Nice!
We look forward to working with Glen and Ed for their bid to win the worlds next year.
2021 Lennon Sails Results:
International 14
- POW 1st
- POW points week 1st
International Canoe
International Moth
- UK Nationals 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 6th, 7th
- Inlands 1st
- Europeans 1st
- Pre-Worlds International Regatta 1st
- Worlds 3rd, 7th, 9th, 10th, 12th (first non pro)
Lennon Sails have recently started work on new Solo and Contender class designs. Please
contact us if you have project where you think we can help.
Find out more at lennonsails.co.uk