What a Nationals!

Day 3 was spent on the beach watching people crash and burn on a bumpy sea averaging 21kts. The leeward gate was close to the beach which gave great spectator action, particularly as there seemed to be a challenging wave set in the middle of the line which caught many people out. The stories that came ashore were all of the windward mark, where the seas were big. Getting onto the more benign port tack was the order of the day to get downhill. Arnaud came ashore saying he only capsized once in the two races held - not bad for someone who sails on a lake! He won both with Jason Belben, Simon Payne and Richie Lovering all revelling in the conditions.

Thankfully (for me) the last day was much calmer. Four races were held in a gradually building breeze from 8 - 12 kts. The sun even came out eventually. Mike Lennon scored two firsts which restored his mojo after a disappointing regatta resultswise. Chris Rashley also had a good day. But some consistent results meant that Jason Belben from Stokes Bay was crowned the very popular 2011 UK National Champion.

For me, once the breeze had filled in to allow continuous foiling, I was in my element and finally scored a 15th in the last race. I tried a new tactic downwind (for me) of sitting in on the tramp downwind and going deep.Paying judicious attention to sail set I could average speeds of 16-17 kts even in this mode and took places. I absolutely adore my new Hydes 2c sail which sets beautifully on my Mach2 medium mast and I think is Mike Lennon's crowning glory in design terms. Whilst being able to emulate the flatness of a 10c when its pips are squeezed, it relaxes into a gorgeous shape all the way up the sail which gives the power of a 13 for downwind work. Two sails in one! For those of you in the upper weight range (80+kg) I cannot recommend it highly enough.

We ended up with 57 entries which makes this the largest UK International Moth Nationals ever. Our AGM bolstered our committee with new blood in the shape of Gareth Davies and James Phare. The 2012 circuit is shaping up already with new opens at Stokes Bay and Castle Cove already on the cards plus all the old favourites. We have the Nationals at Retronguet between 21st and 24th June and then of course the Worlds in late August. There has never been a better time to be a UK Moth sailor with so much to look forward to.

As for this year, those not going to the Europeans are more than welcome to join us at the Hayling Island Fed Week between the 15th - 19th August. A lot of the Hayling Moths are planning to do it. One of its features is that you get 2 discards for the week so you can dip in and out depending on work commitments and weather. Let us know in advance that you are coming and we will find you a spot to store the boat. See you there!