British Moth Bowl at Medley Sailing Club
by Christina Hardyment 27 May 2005 08:51 BST
22 May 2005
Seventeen British moths muster on the Thames for four races at Medley SC © Christina Hardyment
Seventeen British Moths mustered on the Thames for four races at Medley SC on 22 May, a changeable day of light winds, occasional gusts and short sharp showers.
Roli Huggins (M831 Topsy) escaped from the packed upstream start line to lead, and despite being caught at the top mark soon emerged in front again, and casually cruised far ahead of the rest
of the fleet; Ian Howlett (M238 Juniper) fought off Tim Davison (M834 Moonlight Mouse) to come 2nd ; Pete Styles (752 Wein) was 4th.
The start for the second race was downstream, which resulted in an aggressive first beat with lots of calling for ‘water for the bank’ and ripostes of ‘starboard’. Howlett and Davison emerged into the lead at the first mark to find Tina Hardyment (M852 Gipsy) had by-passed the entire scrum with short tacks to windward of it; the three diced for the lead, but after Hardyment avoided the men in doldrums at the bottom mark she gained a convincing lead and held it to win; Howlett came 2nd,
Terry Mason (751 Why), who had been gaining steadily on the threesome throughout the race, 3rd, and Colin Hall (M504 Hawkmoth) 4th.
The third race saw Howlett sail from last (after a tangle on the startline) to first, winning the moth Bowl with a race to spare. Tony Thresher (M823 Wraith) proved that you can sail a Moth exactly like a Solo by coming 2nd; Davison was 3rd, Ian Haywood (M681 Cobwebs) was 4th.
So race 4 would decide the places. In the event, David Peer (M820 Orgasmoth), who had come all the way from Canada to compete, sloughed off his jetlag to win from Alan Godfrey (M826 Fly); Hayward was 3rd, and Hall 4th.
Overall Results:
1st Ian Howlett
2nd Tim Davison
3rd Tina Hardyment (Ladies Cup winner)
4th Ian Haywood
5th Colin Hall