The pace of development in the class, technical, commercial and the sailors is incredible. Things certainly aint what they used to be - in a good way. Below we look at the key events, people, and technology that will shape 2008.

events
Obviously, this year is all about the build up to the World Championship in Weymouth from 5th to 11th July. In fact the preparations pretty much started as soon as Garda finished. With 80 to 100 entries predicted it's literally decades since the class saw anything like this. Stiff competition is brewing in Australia with team Bladerider building up and in the US with some top flight dinghy racers joining the class. The top UK guys will have to raise their game again to be in contention. In Australia, the national championships being held right now (4th January) are the first opportunity to gauge any changes in form since 2007. Si Payne flies out shortly to evaluate and refine the new Prowler with John Ilett.

In the UK people are warming up (literally) by competing in the novelty handicap events around Christmas and New Year. Although nobody takes handicap racing too seriously, there is prestige attached to scooping the Grafham Grand Prix, Bloody Mary, Tiger trophy or Steve Nicolson trophy. Since the advent of foiling, none of these has provided the right wind to see a Moth run away with it. Sooner or later our day will come. One thing's for sure - the handicap committees (who take handicap racing much too seriously) are out to stuff us, so when a Mothie eventually wins, there can be no argument, we started plumb last.

Next up is the Bloody Mary. If ever a race was aptly named. Held on a depressing concrete reservoir under the end of the runway at Heathrow airport; if the abrassive concrete banks don't ruin your wing bars, and the local hoodies haven't robbed your car while you're sailing, the race committee (who are notoriously anti Moth since Mike Iszatt and Peter Conway won a couple of times on the trott in the '70s), will certainly have spoiled your day. So why do it? It's like Spam and Battered Mars Bars and Donner Kebabs and Tizer and all the other icons of Englishness - we know they're bad for us, but they are in our DNA. And being a pursuit format, there is something majestic about the huge procession of dinghy sailing from the smallest Topper starting first to the fabulously anachronistic Thames A Rater pulling away from the dock an hour or so later.

We have the usual crop of open meetings and are visiting some great new clubs this season - see fixtures. Added to this, Si Payne has proposed a new way of meeting which is flexible in date and venue. That way we can gather where there is suitable wind and not let down clubs who have prepared an open for us when no wind is predicted. Hayling and possibly Poole are willing to accommodate our 'Raids'. There's also a trip to Kiel week on 21st June.

For the first time we have been invited to participate in the White Air festival on the Isle of White. It's a kind of extreme water sports gathering and will give us a chance to dream up some new types of spectator friendly competition.

All said, it's going to be an amazing season whether you're at the sharp end of competition or just getting to grips with your first Moth. After all what else is happening in sailing this year? The Olympics? yawn. No AC. For the sailing photographers and journalists, we offer something uniquely marketable - so get that makeover. You'll be on camera.

people
New entrants to the class are at record levels. This is due to the huge interest in foiling combined with the Bladerider production gearing up so that anyone who wants a boat and has £9k can get one in under a month. Over a hundred have been delivered and they say they can build quicker still. What's staggering is the calibre of many of the converts. Olympians and class champions all over the place and according to Rohan some brilliant youngsters too. In the UK we have Mike Lennon joining Paul Brotherton and Si Payne at Hayling Island (all work in the sailing industry and all are champions). Just down the road Jason Belben continues to hone his red hot skills. Foiltown is struggling to hang on to its title with just Adam May and Alex Adams in contention. Sam Pascoe's now concentrating on the RS600 and is unlikely to be Mothing. Oh we almost forgot - Moth legend and ex UK champion Nigel Oswald returns to the class with a Bladerider based near Seattle. He's coming to the Worlds and he's praying for a blow.

technology
All the profile and competition and money are driving development like never before. A boat genuinely is out of date in a season. This sounds like a nightmare, but with high resale values it's not as expensive as it first appears. So who's doing what? Firstly there's a lot of secrecy, so it's pretty hard to know exactly what's in the development sheds. Here's what we know...

Bladerider is clearly the benchmark but won't be standing still. They seem to have ironed out the breakages at the cost of adding some weight to the production boats. We very much doubt the A team will be sailing oveweight boats in Weymouth though. Amac and Rohan continue to refine the breakthrough in control they achieved for Garda. And Amac is working on the latest MSL to squeeze a few more watts out of the old eight square meters.

When foiling first came in, to considerable controversy, one of the fears was that we would need a quiver of different foils for different conditions. Well it's happening with at least one top UK sailor having a high wind and medium wind foil. We wouldn't be at all surprised if the BR boys bring a few sizes with them to suit the variation in conditions possible at Weymouth - especially since they can bolt and unbolt the wing in minutes.

At Fastacraft, John Ilett has cut down the hull and reworked the foils, going for a flapless canting rudder. In the hands of Si Payne and Scott Babbage, it should be a match for the Bladeriders - time will indeed tell.

Wands - everybody's got a pet theory since Garda and it's the easiest bit of your foiler to fiddle with. But who really knows why the BR's flew so high and with so much stability? One person who probably does is Adam May. Now collaborating with carbon technology engineer, Dave Chisholm to produce a new UK Moth based on a development of his one off 'Weapon'. Combining F1 manufacturing with Adam's design flare, it promises much although '08 should be seen as a proving year.

Building steadily in Bristol is Cookie and his Aardvark operation. His boats look well built and have some neat features and really just need a top sailor to prove their speed in action.

Sails are another development area. Apart from the KA work, Mike Lennon technical director of Hyde Sails has been working closely with the Hayling crew cutting and recutting their radial sail. How it's working - you guessed it, time will tell.

Hope you found this interesting. If we got it wrong tell us. If we missed something let us know -we'll add it. email