International Moth Nationals 2011

After the winds of the past few days, most Mothies were relieved to be greeted by a very light breeze in the bay this morning. Conditions at the 10am launch were barely foiling at all, but by the 10.30am start time, it was building nicely to 10 knots and the fleet was up and away. Once again Mike Rayden and his team executed four superb races with no hold-ups and no glitches - making for a super-happy fleet. The sun obliged and the breeze stayed up around 10-12knots for the whole occasion. With another fine performance today, Jason Belben showed his mastery of all conditions and was crowned National Champion - a great performance and one which sets him up well for the Europeans in just a couple of weeks' time. Great thanks to all involved - race team, patrol boat crews, shore teams and organisers - for a fabulous Nationals. Stokes Bay rocks! Final results at http://www.stokesbay-sc.co.uk/result/open/moth_results.htm

Way back on Thursday, word in the boat park was that Saturday would be a peachy Mothing day with a nice force 4 in the bay. Pah! So much for 3 day weather forecasts. Today dawned a little breezier than forecast and then it built a bit. The sun was out though, so that was nice. Arnaud Psarofaghis lit up the scoreboard in the two races of the day (4 were scheduled but conditions dictated that we all think again). Jason Belben, Simon Payne and Richard Lovering shared the limelight thereafter with Pete Barton and Jason Russell, amongst others, putting in some nice performances. There was a fair amount of carnage spread around the course and the rescue boat crews deserve a big 'hurrah' for their help. So nice work all round to those who went out and no shame on those who preserved their boats and their dignities by resting ashore! Forecast is better for tomorrow - honest....

....boat faffing, drinking coffee, having the AGM. Yes broken boats have been re-stuck, ripped sails have been sewn, bent bits have been straightened, yesterday's heros have been celebrated and bruised egos have been massaged but no Moths have been afloat today. With a steady 25-35 knots hammering straight on shore, PRO Mike Rayden expertly called it a day early allowing all good Mothies to do whatever all good Mothies do on a day off. Let them rest well for tomorrow and Sunday they will do 4 races instead of 3. But then according to Mike that's letting them off lightly - our keen race team thought 5 races on Saturday would be fun. The fleet didn't - nuf said?

Despite waking up to howling winds and lashing rain, the Moth fleet was treated to a spectacular Stokes Bay weather wonder. Winds moderated to 15-20 knots and the sun even came out. Absolutely spot-on race control by Mike Rayden meant the three scheduled races all got off seamlessly and the fleet enjoyed some champagne sailing conditions with a little chop added in for good measure. Home sailor Jason Belben is currently topping the rankings, with Arnaud from Switzerland, HISC's Simon Payne and Stokes' own Chris Rashley in hot pursuit. The forecast for tomorrow looks suspect so sailors are preparing either for a windy showdown or coffee and cake... Check out all today's results here http://www.stokesbay-sc.co.uk/result/open/moth_results.htm

As the breeze freshened through the morning, the planned Ronstan Slalom Pre-Nationals event unfortunately had to be cancelled. However the strong winds didn't put off the most awesome Mr Pete Barton who foiled into the bay all the way from Lymington. Game on! The boat park is filling nicely with Moths and the inevitable boat faffing is well and truly underway. Debbie is working miracles with the Registration process and Simon has been handing out packs of repair epoxy to every entrant, kindly donated by sponsors SP - let's hope there's no need for us to open them up during the event! The forecast looks much more civilised for tomorrow afternoon, so here's hoping for a great start to the Zhik 2011 UK Nationals.    

After weeks of planning, the time has finally come. It looks like it will be a windy start to the Championships with the wind decreasing throughout the event - hopefully something for everyone!  Keep checking this page for updates, news snippets and daily reports on the action....