Meet Andrew McDougall - The MACH 2 Designer
Andrew 'AMAC' McDougall first became involved with the Moth class when he built his first Moth at the age of 15 in 1970. After a short break from the class Andrew came back to win his first Australian National Title in 1983 and again in 1984, also getting 2nd place in the '84 and '85 worlds.
Windsurfing
McDougall then took a 16 year break from the class to start the windsurfing brand KA Sail, focusing on high performance sails.
The first Moth sails
During this period he was asked to design a windsurfer-like sail for the World Titles in 1995, where Emmett Lazich and Tim Webster used the KA Sail to dominate the series.
McDougall then actively campaigned for the 2001 World Titles in Japan where he used his newly developed the MSL5 sail to finish in third place. To read how the KA range has developed - click here
Addicted to hydrofoils
McDougall continued to sail in the class on and off over the next few year's whilst developing the KA range of Moth sails, however it wasn't until the introduction of the hydrofoils into the Moth class that Andrew's design background as a mechanical engineer and software development saw him eager to see what could be achieved with this relatively new concept of three dimensional sailing.
Early in 2005 Andrew bought the original Fastacraft Prowler and began to develop an understanding of where improvements could be found to update the current configuration.
The Bladerider dominates
With the intention to create a much faster and more easily controllable Moth that was more affordable and readily accessible to sailors around the world the Bladerider was born. For an early interview with Andrew on the birth of the Bladerider - click here
During 2006 the first McDougall designed Bladerider hit the water where it was an immediate success with Rohan Veal sailing the new design to win the Australian Titles and then changing the face of Moth sailing when it dominated the 2007 World Titles at Lake Garda.
The MACH 2 takes form
When the 2008 World Titles at Weymouth came around McDougall was now sailing a highly modified Bladerider finishing second in a boat that had exceptional boat speed, winning four of the seven heats. Click here for more details on the 2008 World Titles.
McDougall's next project was to build a Moth that was quicker than anything on the market at that time. In collaboration with the Zhuhai branch of the respected Australian boat builder, McConaghy, the MACH 2 was born.
McDougall has continued to sail at every major moth event, with good results, always showing exceptional boat speed to his competitors. This was particularly evident in 2010 where he won the Australian National Titles and in 2010 at the Dubai World Championships where he finished a very close second to Simon Payne.
It hasn't stopped yet...
The Moth class has quickly evolved since the introduction of foils into arguably the most exciting sailing class in the world, raising the sports profile to a new level. This has been achieved by providing sailors around the world with a boat that is affordable, easy to transport and extremely exhilarating to sail. All of this has largely been achieved through AMAC's creative ideas and design genius. McDougall's drive to always improve means the evolution is far from over.
