International Moth Grand Prix at Stokes Bay Sailing Club

Jim McMillan wins the International Moth Open at Stokes Bay Sailing Club © Bob Draper

Blazing sunshine greeted the 31-strong foiling Moth fleet at Stokes Bay over the weekend. Visitors came from far and wide, including all the way from Lake Garda, the venue for the 2017 Moth Worlds where 200+ entries have been taken.

The top sailors are all keyed up and practising hard ahead of this major event where some of the America's Cup sailors are expected to race once their duties are over in Bermuda.

Saturday started off with foiling conditions, but the final run of the day saw the fleet low-riding into the finish line. The key for speed throughout the day was staying on the foils, which placed a huge importance on the timed runs into the start line and then getting the tack right. Manoeuvres had to be kept to a minimum and dropping off the foils could destroy a good race.

Light wind specialist Jim McMillan made the most of the conditions and was the only helm to foil the whole way round the course on the final race on Saturday. His 1,3,1 scoreline gave him a commanding four point lead over second-placed Dan Ellis, the Yealm sailor who was third in the UK Nationals.

The forecast was never great for Sunday and sadly it was correct. Racing was attempted but abandoned at the windward mark when the short-lived breeze faded to nothing.

Stokes Bay Sailing Club did as good a job as was possible in the light wind conditions and the fleet were impressed that they completed three races over the weekend. After the Race Officer made the call to abandon racing the sea maintained its mirror-like state so the right call was definitely made.

Many of the fleet are now heading to Garda for training and also The Foiling Week ahead of the Worlds.

Overall Results: