Int. Moth Nationals at Royal Torbay Yacht Club

Int. Moth Nationals at Royal Torbay Yacht Club - Day 1

by James Phare 8 Jul 2010 23:15 BST 8-11 July 2010

International Moth nationals at Torquay day 1 © Heather Davies / www.fotoboat.com

Menacing waves combined with a light and fluky easterly breeze made for challenging conditions on the first day of the UK International Moth Nationals.

Race one started in a 12 knot breeze with Arnaud Psarofaghis leading the fleet around the windward mark with a notable margin. Simon Payne however kept the pressure on for the downwind leg to close the gap and take the lead on the following upwind leg. Mike Lennon was also on the pace leading a pack consisting of Tagg, Edwards and Lovering. Payne then held the lead for the rest of the race for the win. Arnaud over took Lennon on the final run for second and third followed by Belben. A notable casualty of the first race was Mike Cooke who following a fast couple of laps using his new foils retired with a broken mast.

Race two started in similar conditions to the first race with most of the fleet heading out to the left hand side of the course in search of extra breeze. Mike Lennon lead Simon Payne, Jason Russell, Jason Belben and Ricky Tagg around the windward mark. Lennon's lead however was shortlived as European Champion Arnaud Psarofaghis had a blistering downwind run to take the lead. This lasted until almost the end of the next beat when Jason Belben and Ricky Tagg overtook. The wind then decided to cease playing ball and began to die and dramatically shift. This played into the hands of lightwind specialists such as Belben who extended his lead to take the win from Arnaud, Payne, Lennon and Tagg.

Results after Day 1:

Pos	Sail No	Boat Name	Helm	R1	R2	Pts
1	1	Birdy	Simon Payne	1	3	4
2	4	Oyster Funds	Arnaud Psarofughis	2	2	4
3	3619	Stay Hungry	Jason Belben	4	1	5
4	8	Hyde Sails	Michael Lennon	3	4	7
5	3594	Hidden Talent	Ricky Tagg	5	5	10
6	3419	Black Pig	David Edwards	6	6	12
7	3623	SYZ and CO	Mikis Psarofughis	9	7	16
8	3715	Tere	Jason Russell	8	8	16
9	3607		Tim Penfold	13	9	22
10	3629		Richard Lovering	7	17	24
11	3632	El Toro	Paul Hayden	14	10	24
12	3136	Slipstream	Paul Highnett	16	11	27
13	3713	Man Group	James Phare	10	19	29
14	3758		Peter Barton	15	16	31
15	3757	Packet Rocket	Ben Paton	21	13	34
16	3115		Sam Tozer	22	14	36
17	3253		Gareth Davies	20	20	40
18	3335	Flying Scotsman	Dougie Imrie	26	15	41
19	3376	Jet Air	Jonnie Hutch	18	23	41
20	3467	Arjuna	Rod Harris	17	30	47
21	3323	Blackrider	Martin Fear	19	28	47
22	3618	Ninja Tuna	Tom Offer	23	24	47
23	3605		Graham Simmonds	24	25	49
24	3764	Nijario	Phillippe Oligario	28	22	50
25	3755	Very Orange	Thomas Lambert	31	21	52
26	11		Andrew Friend	25	27	52
27	4082	Gnoose	Alex Adams	11	43	54
28	3614	Lola	Doug Pybus	43	12	55
29	3388		Giovanni Galeotti	12	43	55
30	3730		Jonathan Peats	27	31	58
31	3152	BlackFatima	Chris Anstead	43	18	61
32	3368	Must Fly	Colin Newman	32	29	61
33	3511		Daniel Hare	29	32	61
34	3756		Alan Watson	36	26	62
35	3080	Daedalus	Tom Altman	30	34	64
36	3495		Jamie Hare	34	33	67
37	3021	Carbon Footprint	Katherine Knight	35	35	70
38	3172	Black Pig	Mike Owen	33	43	76
39	3017	Tiger Too	Helen Rollinson	43	43	86
39	3078	Pimp Ninja	Leo Carswell	43	43	86
39	3678	Il Mostro	Simon Propper	43	43	86
39	3760	Ninja Turtle	Mike Cooke	43	43	86