International Moth Irish Inland Championship at Lough Ree Yacht Club
by Ali Kissane 27 Apr 2016 10:14 PDT
23-24 April 2016
Irish Moth Inlands 2016 © Josh Merton & Robert Byrne
Nine foiling moths congregated at Lough Ree for the first event of the year, the Inland Championships. The fleet has grown up in the last year with new boats galore and foiling tacks becoming the norm instead of a myth that many claimed but few had witnessed. Joining the fleet for the first time was Figaro sailor Dave Kenefick.
Saturday saw ideal conditions to gently dust the cobwebs off the fleet with 10 knots and beautifully flat water. Rory Fitzpatrick in his Exocet showed that he was still the man to beat from the start with impressive speed and boat handling, but the trio of Alistair Kissane, Dave Kenefick and Annalise Murphy in new Mach 2's were hot on his heels. Unfortunately, the fleet was cut down to seven after three races with Kissane and John Chambers forced ashore with gear failure.
After a short break for lunch at the Wine Port Lodge, the only restaurant in the world that allows sailors in wetsuits sit beside wedding parties, the fleet returned to racing. The standard was noticeably improving as the day wore on with particularly fast sailing from the recently returned from injury Neil O'Toole and the youngest member of the Irish Fleet, Adam Hyland.
The Moths have been joined by the Water Wags for the past three years at the season opener, and a tradition of the event is that the Wag sailors give the Mothies a lesson in how to live well on the Saturday night. That tradition was very much upheld with a T-Bone steak and wine dinner followed by fine whiskey. For the third year running, the Wag sailors comprehensively out partied the supposedly more youthful Moth Fleet.
Sunday saw near identical perfect foiling conditions. The battle for first was all but lost to Fitzpatrick, but Kenefick and Murphy duked it out all day for second and third. Ultimately, it was Kenefick who came snook second place, with Murphy third.
The next stop in the Moth tour will be May 20th to 22nd in Howth Yacht Club (10km from Dublin Port). Fifteen Irish boats are expected and the class would be delighted to welcome any UK boats that are interested in some top quality racing in a world class foiling venue.