VRsport.tv International Moth UK Nationals at the WPNSA - Day 3

by Mark Jardine on 30 Aug 2016 Monday saw another delay in the morning, but this time due to a lack of wind. Signs were promising though with a clear sky out to sea, the wind switching to the South West, and clouds building over the land.

It wasn't long before a steady 12-15 knot sea breeze had filled in and, combined with the flat water of Portland Harbour, the 73-boat fleet of foilers revelled in the superb conditions.

After 8 clean starts in a row, the Moths finally got over-eager in race 9 with a high flyer drawing the rest of the fleet over the line leading to the first general recall of the championship.

Principal Race Officer Bryan Drake has been impressed with the fleet's discipline so far, 'They've been really good, close to the line, but up until the final race today the line has been nice and clear. In the last race there was one boat that was well up on the line and he basically pulled the others up as they assumed he wasn't over. Suddenly the whole fleet was up too early and we had the first general recall of the regatta and so we went for the U flag afterwards.'



Robert Greenhalgh held a master-class, winning 3 of the 4 races with some of his winning margins being measured in minutes over the half-hour 3-lap courses. The call over the VHF of 'first round the windward mark, GBR4340' became almost monotonous with surprise shown on the committee boat if another sail number was called in. The only thing that seemed capable of slowing him down was weed on the foils - something that nearly always has be cleared with via a capsize - but even this seemed to only halt his charge momentarily.

On his super speed Robert said, 'I changed batten 3 today to a softer one and it definitely helped - I was ripping downwind. There was a lot of weed out there today and it was pretty shifty so I just stayed out of trouble and was going quick. I had one bad start but the wind was very left so I flipped onto port quickly, stuck it out there, and got to the windward mark in the top 3. My other starts were alright.'

On whether a batten change could make all the difference Robert said, 'Definitely, especially downwind in these things as a stiffer rig or a more grunty sail will definitely give you more downwind. Yesterday I was looking at that batten and it didn't look quite right so I put in a slightly softer one today and it definitely looked a lot nicer. It's such a small sail, only 8 sq. metres, so you really need to get everything out of it downwind when the apparent wind drops.'

'One of the big things with Moth sailing is that there are so many factors going on; there's the rig and then you've got the whole foil package. It takes a bit of time to know what rope to pull when something's not quite right, whether it's the rig, the foil, the wand or the rudder angle, and after a couple of years you have the experience to know which is the 'go to' rope according to what the boat is telling you. A lot of the sailors who are new to it have to go through that whole learning process.'

Behind Greenhalgh it was another day of tight racing within the pack with four-wide roundings of the leeward mark commonplace. The clash of rigs, shouts for avoiding action, emergency manoeuvres and capsizes were nearly as regular.

The question amongst those chasing Greenhalgh was how to catch him. We asked David Hivey, winner of race 7, about what the difference was between himself and Robert: 'I was pretty tired and broken after yesterday - I don't spend as much time in the gym as Rob and I think that showed today. I sailed alright but I seemed to get a lot of weed and was struggling to get it off the foils. I had to capsize 3 times today to get the weed off which cost me quite a lot, but it was the same for everybody.'

Current European Champion Mike Lennon is lying fourth going into the final day. He's posted a number of top 5 results but said, 'It felt like a bit of a war at times - there was a lot of weed around so you were constantly looking over the side and then trying to figure out ways of getting it off without actually capsizing.'

On how to handle weed Mike said, 'We get a lot of it at Hayling so we practice it. Just before you're about to tack you set the boat up really high and let it heel over, assuming the weed's on the windward side of the foil, and then as it falls down out of the sky sideways it washes off the foil. You can only do that one side at a time unfortunately. The other method is to just sky the boat, pulling on so much ride height that the whole foil comes out of the water - the problem with that is the rudder comes out as well and you lose steerage for a few seconds. As you're plunging back down into the water your steerage comes back again and you just hope you can send it in the right direction!'

There were some great battles amongst the 'elder statesmen' of the fleet with Jason Belben and Ricky Tagg battling it out all the way to the line for seventh in the final race of the day. Whilst losing out to Jason in the race, Ricky put his performance down to 'Ignoring pain and competitive spirit'.

On how he handles a four race day Ricky said, 'I think you're relying on everything in the boat working well so that you expend the least amount of energy on systems in the boat. Then getting everything into its right position so that the boat hits the groove, then you've got time to look around and race, because you can't just fire into a corner - the racing is very tight and brutal. If you make a mistake then 4 or 5 places go in an instant.'

Jason gave us his view of the battle: 'At the end of the fourth race today we both gave everything we could for the last downwind leg. We went for it the whole run and it pushed us both to the limit.'

Not every sailor is looking to put a full series together at the nationals. Graham Simmonds chooses his races according to the conditions saying, 'In the first race I thought 'my legs don't hurt, the sun's shining and my new sail is working a treat. It's actually a boat where you don't really need to race it, but it does give it an edge doesn't it? Even Dave (Smithwhite) who's 60 can sail it, so I've got at least 5 years left in the boat! Next year I might take it seriously and get fit, but this year I'll just stick my finger in the air and see how it's going.'

PRO Bryan Drake summed up with, 'It was a dream day. The wind did flick around a bit but the average remained constant and I barely had to change the course at all.'

Racing concludes on Tuesday with the final three races scheduled for 10.30am. Barring gear failure Greenhalgh should have the championship wrapped up with his current pace but Hivey is only 4 points behind so it's not a given.

Results after Day 3:

Pos	Nat	Sail No	Helm	Club	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	R8	R9	Pts
1	GBR	4340	Robert Greenhalgh	Royal Southern YC	?2	1	?2	1	1	1	2	1	1	8
2	GBR	4434	David Hivey	Datchet Water SC	1	2	1	2	2	?7	1	?3	3	12
3	GBR	4345	Dylan Fletcher	WPNSA	?3	3	3	3	3	2	?15	2	2	18
4	GBR	4349	Mike Lennon	Hayling Island SC	4	?7	6	?7	4	5	3	4	5	31
5	GBR	3942	Jason Belben	Stokes Bay SC	5	4	4	4	6	?58	4	5	?7	32
6	GBR	4291	Simon Hiscocks	WPNSA/Hayling Island SC	?14	5	?7	5	7	3	7	7	4	38
7	GBR	4433	Dan Ward	Frensham Pond SC	7	10	5	?18	8	4	6	?12	10	50
8	GER	4417	Max Maege	BYC	9	(DNS)	9	8	13	6	5	?19	6	56
9	GBR	4310	Stu Bithell	Hollingworth Lake SC	?15	8	8	6	10	9	?16	8	14	63
10	GBR	4099	Ricky Tagg	Hayling Island SC	11	?21	12	10	?20	14	8	10	8	73
11	GBR	3036	Dan Vincent	Stokes Bay SC	12	9	10	9	17	?21	?26	9	13	79
12	GBR	4309	James McMillan	Gurnard SC	?27	19	13	11	5	10	?20	6	17	81
13	GBR	4358	Andrew Budgen	Warsash SC	6	6	(RET)	19	18	8	11	20	(RET)	88
14	GBR	3979	Dan Ellis	Yealm YC	13	?16	11	12	11	15	?30	16	11	89
15	GBR	4121	James Phare	Queen Mary SC	16	12	14	13	12	?25	18	?44	16	101
16	GBR	3939	Nic Asher	Waveney & Oulton Broad YC	18	?30	16	25	15	?26	17	14	19	124
17	GBR	4278	Alex Koukourakis	Eastbourne Soverign SC	10	11	20	23	?31	?41	28	25	12	129
18	GBR	4442	Kyle Stoneham	Thorpe Bay YC	?29	29	?41	21	25	16	13	11	15	130
19	NED	4408	Eelco Boers	WV Roerkoning	(DNS)	13	38	14	9	?59	12	21	30	137
20	GBR	4409	Ross Harvey	Hayling Island SC	21	(DNS)	15	15	19	17	25	?30	25	137
21	GBR	43	Alister Richardson		8	20	28	27	22	11	?40	33	(RET)	149
22	GBR	4147	Penny Clark	Stokes Bay SC	(DNC)	?31	22	24	27	20	23	17	18	151
23	GBR	4075	Doug Pybus	Queen Mary SC	17	24	?53	20	?41	13	19	27	33	153
24	GBR	4347	Eddie Bridle	Brightlingsea SC	22	15	17	26	14	?36	32	?40	28	154
25	GBR	4336	Jonathan Heathcote	Stokes Bay SC	(DNS)	(RET)	DNS	17	21	12	10	15	9	158
26	GBR	3980	David Simmonds	Hayling Island SC	24	?43	?47	29	16	18	29	28	20	164
27	GBR	3940	Russ Clark	Stokes Bay SC	31	14	24	28	?40	27	22	?35	22	168
28	NED	4424	Kalle Coster	WV Braasemermeer	23	17	21	16	33	?42	?39	38	23	171
29	GBR	4277	Jeremy Hartley	Stokes Bay SC	33	?41	18	?36	26	22	27	24	21	171
30	GBR	4350	David Smithwhite	Hayling Island SC	25	25	?44	22	28	?34	33	13	32	178
31	GBR	4346	Nick Miller	Marconi SC	32	22	19	30	30	?44	?37	23	24	180
32	GBR	4438	Matthew Lea	Grafham Water SC	20	32	?39	?42	29	24	21	32	27	185
33	GBR	4311	Alex Adams	Castle Cove SC	19	23	25	32	32	?60	31	29	?35	191
34	IRL	3600	Alistair Kissane	Howth YC	35	27	27	37	?39	(RET)	14	18	34	192
35	GBR	4279	David Jessop	Grafham Water SC	50	26	33	45	(RET)	19	9	26	(DNS)	208
36	GBR	4233	Dominic Hutton	Stokes Bay SC	?41	33	23	35	35	29	24	37	(BFD)	216
37	GBR	4096	Tim Penfold	Hayling Island SC	40	18	34	39	23	23	42	(RET)	(DNC)	219
38	GBR	4299	Chris Clarke	Thorpe Bay YC	30	28	36	40	?44	32	35	?41	31	232
39	GBR	3704	Mark Dell	Thorpe Bay YC	(RET)	37	31	33	?43	37	36	31	29	234
40	GBR	445	Ben Clegg	Brightlingsea SC	44	38	32	43	37	?61	(DNS)	22	26	242
41	ESP	4047	Andreas John	BSC	28	34	26	38	24	28	(DNS)	(DNS)	DNC	252
42	GBR	4208	Tom Lambert	Wilsonian SC	?47	45	30	41	38	30	(DNS)	42	41	267
43	GBR	4037	Chris Jeeves		45	?47	37	?48	46	35	41	36	36	276
44	GBR	3959	Paul Gliddon	Netley SC	43	36	42	34	42	?50	49	?52	37	283
45	GER	3843	Carlo Mäge	Feldafinger Seglerverein	38	39	40	?49	34	46	?55	47	39	283
46	GBR	4073	Paul Hignett	Loch Lomond SC	34	42	35	44	45	43	46	?53	?48	289
47	GBR	4122	Andrew Friend	Queen Mary SC/Norfolk PC	26	35	(RET)	(DNS)	DNC	38	38	43	38	292
48	GBR	3945	Chris Tilbrook	Starcross SC	37	48	43	?52	(DNS)	39	45	51	42	305
49	NED	3794	Menno Berens	Marina Muiderzand	46	50	46	?55	50	45	47	34	(BFD)	318
50	GBR	3943	Richard Edwards	Parkstone YC	36	40	29	31	36	(DNC)	(DNC)	DNC	DNC	320
51	IRL	3632	Jim Devlin	Royal St. George YC	?52	46	50	?54	48	48	44	49	51	336
52	GBR	3730	Jon Peats	Castle Cove SC	53	49	48	51	(RET)	49	53	?55	45	348
53	GBR	3877	Josie Gliddon	Netley SC	54	57	?60	?61	55	52	48	45	40	351
54	GBR	3944	Phil Bevan	Grafham Water SC	51	51	?54	53	52	?57	51	50	47	355
55	GBR	434	Leigh Albrecht	Eastbourne Soverign SC	42	44	(DNS)	46	51	31	(RET)	DNS	DNC	362
56	DEN	4307	Hans Rasmussen	Troense Bådelaug	48	(DNC)	(DNC)	DNC	DNC	40	43	39	46	364
57	GBR	4061	Billy Vennis?Ozanne	Stokes Bay SC	(DNS)	53	49	50	49	54	(RET)	67	44	366
58	GBR	4385	Steve McLean	Hayling Island SC/LSC	49	?58	55	57	?60	56	56	54	43	370
59	GBR	4100	Chris White	Restronguet SC	(DNS)	54	51	?58	56	53	54	58	49	375
60	GBR	4372	James Ross	Netley SC	55	55	52	?56	53	55	?57	56	50	376
61	GBR	4230	Mark Emmett	Stokes Bay SC/HISC	60	(DNS)	58	62	54	51	52	57	(RET)	394
62	GBR	4281	Nic Streatfeild	Rutland SC	39	(DNC)	(DNC)	DNC	DNC	47	50	46	DNS	404
63	GBR	3870	Eddie Gatehouse	Hayling Island SC	56	(DNS)	57	59	57	62	60	?63	54	405
64	GBR	4342	Graham Simmonds	Hayling Island SC	(DNS)	(DNC)	DNC	DNC	DNC	33	34	48	RET	411
65	GBR	3629	Thomas Mehew	Royal Thames YC	62	56	56	60	58	?66	63	61	(DNS)	416
66	GBR	4025	Katherine Knight	WPNSA	61	59	59	?63	61	?67	62	59	56	417
67	GBR	4343	James Sainsbury	Grafham Water SC	63	(RET)	45	47	47	(RET)	DNS	DNS	DNC	424
68	GBR	3335	Ed Redfearn	Brightlingsea SC	59	52	(RET)	(DNS)	DNC	63	61	65	53	427
69	GBR	4182	Owain Hughes	Parkstone YC	58	(RET)	61	(RET)	59	64	59	RET	DNC	449
70	GBR	3966	Cameron Harris	Parkstone YC	57	(DNS)	(DNC)	DNC	DNC	65	58	60	DNS	462
71	GBR	4479	Adrian Coatsworth	Alton Water SC	64	(DNS)	62	(DNS)	DNC	RET	DNS	66	52	466
72	GBR	3890	Katie Hughes	Loch Lomond SC	65	(DNC)	(DNC)	DNC	DNC	68	64	64	DNS	483
73	IRL	3916	John McKelvie	Strangford Lough YC/QMSC	(DNS)	(DNC)	DNC	DNC	DNC	RET	DNS	62	55	487