Another first for International Moths - the first sub 500 Portsmouth Yardstick!
by Ricky Tagg 19 Mar 2012 19:04 GMT
Jason Belben (right) and Mike Lennon battle it out as foiling moths dominate the 39th Bloody Mary © Steve Arkley /
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From March 2012 Hayling Island SC announced that the locally adjusted Portsmouth Yardstick for the foiling International Moth will be 499! This is yet another first for this innovative class who previously had a local handicap of 573.
Not so long ago the early foiling Moths had a yardstick in excess of 800. This raises the question of how long can this improvement carry on?
Hayling Island runs 5 pursuit races each year, including the Glynn Charles and "Cock of the Harbour" both of which attract large entries from a diverse range of boats. The Handicap Committee is known to be proactive with its handicapping and regularly reviews them after each event and will make adjustments, where necessary, to reflect the longer legs and courses used combined with the more open and tidal water venue. These factors enable the faster boats to utilise their speed to greater advantage.
According to Hayling Island's handicap committee the Moth white wash at the recent Christmas Cracker pursuit would have seen the leading Moth win on 475. The Bloody Mary would have produced a similar number in seeing the first place boat tie with the next class to finish.
The Moth class has seen significant advances in boat and foil design with ever more sophisticated and adjustable control systems. These innovations have seen the potential speeds increase significantly. When asked about the change in handicap the UK Class President, Mike Lennon commented "The advances in the technology have made a significant impact in performance and great credit must go to the designers and builders."
When asked about the performance in recent events, Mike continued "What is just as important to take into account is that the top sailors have spent many hours developing their technique along with their rigs and foil set up to get the maximum from them. The top guys know how to set the boats up for all conditions and how to push them hard all the time and still have the capacity to race tactically."
Only 4 years ago it was a badge of honour to be in the 20 knot club, now a number of people have exceeded 30 knots and are regularly racing downwind in the mid 20 knots.
With the Worlds here in the UK in 2014 and many new faces joining the class every month the innovation continues and who knows how long will it be before the class hits 399? Well... perhaps!