2015 International Moth UK National Championship - Day 2

Jason Belben on day 2 of the International Moth UK Nationals at Stokes Bay © Mark Jardine

Dan Henderson on day 2 of the International Moth UK Nationals at Stokes Bay © Mark Jardine

Perfect day for Rashley

The day started with a calm, mirror-like Solent, but ended with 4 glorious races completed in perfect foiling conditions. This was Stokes Bay at its best and the Moth fleet turned on the style in spades.

Home club sailor Chris Rashley, focused by the threat of Dylan Fletcher's opening race win, switched on the after-burners to show that he is the sailor to beat at this event. With awesome downwind pace, he racked up a perfect day with four straight wins.

Chris said after the racing, "It felt great. I did a lot of thinking last night and got myself mentally prepared for the day. I thought that Dylan was going to come out and be really tough so I prepared myself for potentially being a little bit slower than him, but just thought if I can stay consistent, keep him on his toes and wait for him to make a mistake, then I could sneak in there and take a couple of races off him - as it turned out that's exactly what I did."

On his pace and approach Chris said, "I'm not a lot faster than anyone else, downwind I'm probably the pace-setter, but upwind there's Mike (Lennon), Dylan (Fletcher), Ben (Paton) and a couple of others who've potentially got a little bit of pace on me, but I race clean, I race fast, I don't tend to make too many mistakes when I'm on it, and today I was on it."

Day 2 of the International Moth UK Nationals at Stokes Bay - photo © Mark Jardine

The moment of the day was when Penny Clark timed her start line approach to perfection to port-tack the fleet in the second race of the day. "My plan was to go behind the fleet and get out of the tide - start on port and cut a tack out - but the whole fleet was hanging back a little bit, so I just decided to pull the trigger and go and cross them. It was absolutely brilliant, I couldn't believe it! I think it was a little bit cowboy giving it a go, but it was brilliant to see Chris & Dylan both go behind me."

Penny Clark port-tacks the fleet on day 2 of the International Moth UK Nationals at Stokes Bay - photo © Mark Jardine

We asked Penny what advice she would give to women wanting to join the International Moth fleet and what it's like to sail them, "It's absolutely brilliant, I've had one on and off since 2008. I started with a Bladerider - this is the first time I've ever raced one as the boats are just so much fun you just want to go sailing. The boat's perfect for the girls - yes, we're a little bit light when it's breezy, but they're just so much fun. Who wouldn't want to sail one? My advice to anyone buying one is spend as much as you can - the control systems are just so much better on the newer boats - I had a Ninja before my Exocet and I think it made a really big difference out there today because in the waves, learning to sail in a Ninja at Stokes Bay has taught me how to get downwind. I was quite surprised how many of the guys were pitch-poling next to me and I was not ever worried about it. It was champagne sailing."

After a shaky start to the day, Mike Lennon knocked in three 3rd places to move up to second overall. Mike said, "It was alright, I was nip and tuck with Ben (Paton) on the final finish, bang-bang as we went through the line, so I'm not sure who got it. The first race was a shocker as I went to tack and just saw weed everywhere. I was weaving through the weed and eventually had to do the tack and I picked up loads of weed."

On the quality now throughout the fleet Mike said, "The boat speed differentials have closed in a bit. Everyone's got my sails now so it's bound to have closed in a bit! There's a lot of people going quick now so if you do bury yourself a bit it's a little bit harder to extract yourself. It's not easy for an old man like me!"

Mike Lennon on day 2 of the International Moth UK Nationals at Stokes Bay - photo © Mark Jardine

Home-build guru Alex Koukourakis reinforced the view of the tight fleet, "It was absolutely epic out there today - nose to tail racing and everyone's smiling. The middle of the fleet is so tight at the moment whereas 3 or 4 years ago there would have been a big spread. Obviously the pros are out at the front and in a different league but I think the racing in the middle of the fleet is probably even better - you can't beat it!"

On his boat and approaching building your own hull Alex said, "I've given the main foil a bit more aggressive angle of attack which helped me as I'm quite heavy and it now seems to pop up a lot earlier - the boat is just a dream at the moment. With any home-build you've got to cut bits off and adjust things - it takes about a year to get it all sorted really. If you're going to build your own boat then have a lot of time off - it's going to take a long time. Sail a Moth first as you can't successfully do a home-build without actually sailing one - it gives you insight as to how to build the boat. Ask other home-builders, we're all happy to help anyone that wants to do it."

Ben Paton finally got his championship on track after gear failure affected his first two races, "Not a brilliant start to the regatta, but I was really happy to put in a couple of second place finishes today and get a bit of confidence back. I can still get to the front and I've still got the pace, so I'm looking forward to tomorrow's racing."

Day 2 of the International Moth UK Nationals at Stokes Bay - photo © Mark Jardine

Dylan Fletcher dropped to fourth overall after a few boat-handling errors and leaks in his solid wings.

Rory Fizpatrick, a convert from the Laser class, is in fifth spot and was happy with his day, "Some of the guys are running the smaller main foil and passed me downwind but I was going well upwind. As I come from Lasers I don't know if it's me hiking harder or the boat going fast! It was really good fun and quite wavy so I have to get used to the downwind legs - a great day's racing."

On coming into the fleet Rory's advice is, "Spend lots of time in the boat; practicing gybes, practicing tacks. It's so rewarding when you get each next step done. It's like nothing else in the sport, you'll never look back!"

Day 2 of the International Moth UK Nationals at Stokes Bay - photo © Mark Jardine

Racing on Saturday has again been brought forward to 11am with four races scheduled. A 12-15 knot wind is forecast with sunshine - it should be another cracker.

The event is kindly sponsored by Noble Marine, Ronstan and Blueteq.

Results after Day 2: (five races, 1 discard)