Moth UK National Championships - Arnaud Psarofaghis leads after day 3

by Stokes Bay SC on 10 Jul 2011 The International Moth UK National Championships are underway and are being sailed in the Solent off Stokes Bay from the 7th to 10th of July.

Day 3

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 three 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 (four 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!

Day 2

And the day was spent…. 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 four races instead of three. But then according to Mike that's letting them off lightly - our keen race team thought five races on Saturday would be fun. The fleet didn't - nuf said?

Results after Day 3: