2019 Wetsuit Outlet UK Moth Nationals at Castle Cove SC Day 3

Bill Barker, Race Office in the 2019 Wetsuit Outlet UK Moth Nationals at Castle Cove SC © Mark Jardine / IMCA UK

Who would be a Race Officer? Thankfully there are volunteers willing to take on the role and Bill Barker is the Castle Cove Sailing Club member who is running the racing this week for the foiling Moths.

It's not been easy. Day one was brutal, and since then it's been a case of using the best of the wind whenever it's available, and today, working around the Bart's Bash event in Portland Harbour. This, and the nature of the Moth itself, presents several challenges as Bill explained:

"We have to consider the speed which the Moths are travelling around, which is quite dramatic. The main challenge is the scoring, as when you're foiling you're doing a minimum of 12 knots and when you're not it's a maximum of 5, so if you drop off the foils at any time you go to the back of the pack. Some people are doing two laps, some people are doing three, and the rest are doing one - trying to sort that out does take a bit of doing.

"Also, here we have a gate at the windward mark, which is exceptionally unusual, and also the gate at the bottom of the course which is quite normal. The mark rounding isn't too bad, providing you know who's rounding when. Keeping an eye on who's leading is a full time job; we're recording at the top and have two sets of recordings going at the leeward marks and I'm keeping my eyes open just to make sure that we've got the right people in the right places."

Dylan Fletcher logging over 31 knots on day one, it highlights how the technology is moving on, but some competitors are in previous generation boats, contributing towards the massive variance in speed, causing more headaches for the race team:

"The speed differentials are just crazy. Also, the windspeeds at which they can foil become a real issue and we hit that problem this afternoon. I was hoping we could get something in after the Bart's Bash race, it looked hopeful, but we were right on the verge of no foiling and it just wasn't going to happen, so we had to bin it and come home. To be fair, the wind did exactly as it was forecast to do - down to the hour."

2019 Wetsuit Outlet UK Moth Nationals at Castle Cove SC day 3 - photo © Mark Jardine / IMCA UK

While it wasn't a perfect day for Dylan Fletcher, he still managed to record two victories, one by the narrowest of margins over French sailor Benoit Marie:

"Benoit and I had a super-close first race. He had a great start and lead, but I was niggling into it all the way round and just got him by a foot on the finish, but also good that he won the next race. I knew that I was right on the edge and he could be in my dirt, so I had to really work it down over him to take him right on the line. I'd done everything I possibly could on my boat with the controls to help me soak down to him."

2019 Wetsuit Outlet UK Moth Nationals at Castle Cove SC day 3 - photo © Mark Jardine / IMCA UK

"It was exactly as forecast, making it a really big call as to what sail to use this morning, and I think most of us went with the big rigs. I was really happy with my speed, but just hit a bit of weed in the second race and didn't deal with it very well - wondering do I capsize now or maybe it'll fall off? Overall, I think it was three really good races."

Andrew Friend is a home-build Moth sailor who came to the 2018 Nationals at Thorpe Bay with the boat that he'd built - so new that he was still screwing fittings onto the boat an hour before launching. This year he's refined the control systems and is continuing to learn how to bring his design up to top speed:

"It's been time consuming! It's getting there, and the boat has a lot of potential, but we still haven't reached that yet. When it's working, it's just as fast as an Exocet, which is the benchmark, so really it's just a question of getting the foils at the right angle and making all the systems work properly."

2019 Wetsuit Outlet UK Moth Nationals at Castle Cove SC day 3 - photo © Mark Jardine / IMCA UK

It has been noticeable that Andrew's boat has been absolutely flying at times, and this must be an incredible feeling for him as the builder:

"Doug (Pybus) and I built a pair of boats which we launched at Thorpe Bay, and that's what keeps us going! We built these boats at a studio and a garage in London and yet we're racing with boats that are built professionally and sailed by professional sailors - it's a nice feeling!"

2019 Wetsuit Outlet UK Moth Nationals at Castle Cove SC day 3 - photo © Mark Jardine / IMCA UK

Paul Williams, Managing Director of Wetsuit Outlet had these words to say about their title sponsorship of the event:

"Wetsuit Outlet is delighted to return this year, growing our sponsorship to be the lead sponsor of the Moth Nationals. As the largest online retailer of premium performance sailing brands, such as Zhik and Gill, it's a perfect association to be involved in the all-action Moth class.

"Over the last 14 years Wetsuit Outlet has grown to be Europe's biggest dinghy and yacht sailing retailer, supporting everyone from the leisure sailor to the serious racer, by offering the best customer service and next day delivery from our extensive stock."

2019 Wetsuit Outlet UK Moth Nationals at Castle Cove SC day 3 - photo © Mark Jardine / IMCA UK

IMCA UK (the UK Moth Class Association for those not into acronyms) is fortunate to have the support of some key sponsors who we'd like to thank individually below:

• Noble Marine Insurance have been involved with the class for many years and probably provide the best service to Moth sailors when things don't go as smoothly as planned. A quick chat with the sailors in the dinghy park will reinforce this.

• Allen Brothers have been designing and manufacturing high quality deck hardware in the UK for many years. Their XHL blocks are in use in many of the kicker systems across the fleet thanks to their extraordinary load-bearing capabilities - it does no harm that they look the business as well.

• Maguire Boats are the builders of the market-leading Exocet Moth but have supported designs of every flavour during class events. Simon and his team work tirelessly to ensure that every sailor spends as much time as possible during a championship on the water.

• Shock Sailing are based just around the corner from Castle Cove SC at Portland, servicing high-performance boats at the WPNSA and around the world. This is a company which is always innovating, and they are loaning a RIB for the Nationals.

• The Rutland Moth Squad are a growing band of competitive sailors who are notching up some top international results. They take the phrase 'loyal to the foil' to new levels and the class are actively looking to add Rutland to the Grand Prix circuit.

High Resolution Photos:

Available to download from flickr here...

• Day 1
• Day 2
• Day 3