Noble Marine International Moth GP at Grafham Water Sailing Club

by Jason Belben 17 Apr 2019 09:59 BST 13-14 April 2019

A fleet of 24 International Moths turned out for the third Noble Marine Grand Prix event of the year at Grafham Sailing Club over the weekend of 13th & 14th April. This included some new designs out for their first competitive event of the year Mike Lennon's 'Thinnair', James Sainsbury's 'Valkyrie' and Doug Pybus's home build. Noticable absence was Dave Hivey, apparently testing his new boat in Garda.

On Saturday temperatures were in the low figures despite it being Spring and the wind could only be described as variable. The fleet experienced four seasons in one day with light variable winds in the sunshine and cold moderate winds under the clouds. No one leg seemed to maintain a constant pattern however the race officer managed to get four good races in with close racing right to the finish and place changes abundant. Jim Mcmillian once again showed his skill in these conditions being the most consistent over the day but the top six was wide open with a mixture of front runners- Ben Clegg, Simon Hiscocks, Ross Harvey.

Sunday had a much better direction across the lake and the wind proved to be more consistent and stronger throughout the day however the temperatures were no improvement so the prompt starting by the race committee was much appreciated.

The racing was extremely close with finishers within boat lengths after three laps and positions changes were frequent with shifts and pressure differences across the course. Ross had a great start to the day with 1,1,3 which meant the event was still to be decided on the last race however a broken forestay ended Ross's day badly.

The event was decided on the last run which despite a large shift going into the line left Jim with overall victory.

Overall Results:

Pos	Sail No	Helm Name:	Club	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	R8	Pts
1st	4533	Jim McMillan	Stokes Bay SC	2	1	2	3	2	‑5	4	3	17
2nd	4386	Simon Hiscocks	WPWSA	‑9	5	1	2	3	1	5	5	22
3rd	4509	Jason Belben	Stokes Bay SC	‑4	4	4	4	4	4	2	2	24
4th	4501	Dan Ellis	Yealm YC	5	6	6	‑8	6	2	6	1	32
5th	4584	Michael Lennon	Hayling Island SC	8	2	3	5	8	6	(OCS)	4	36
6th	4309	P Gliddon	Netley SC	3	9	‑10	9	7	8	3	6	45
7th	3980	Alex Adams	Castle Cove SC	7	8	8	7	5	7	7	‑9	49
8th	4149	Eddie Bridle	Brightlingsea	6	7	7	‑10	9	9	8	7	53
9th	4493	Ross Harvey	Hayling Island SC	(DNC)	DNC	9	1	1	3	1	DNC	65
10th	45	James Sainsbury	Rutland SC	15	10	11	(DNC)	10	10	9	8	73
11th	4602	James Ross	Netley SC	‑17	14	13	11	13	16	10	10	87
12th	4525	Ben Clegg	Brightlingsea	1	3	5	6	(DNC)	DNC	DNC	DNC	90
13th	4577	Doug Pybus	Queen Mary	14	11	15	(DNC)	12	12	18	14	96
14th	3169	Brad Gibson	MYA	16	13	16	13	(DNC)	18	11	11	98
15th	4043	Joe Adams	Oxford Sailing Club	12	(DNC)	12	12	DNC	15	13	15	104
16th	4554	Dave Smithwhite	Hayling Island SC	10	12	14	(DNC)	11	11	DNC	DNC	108
17th	3944	Phil Bevan	Grafham Water Sailing Club	13	18	(DNC)	15	14	20	16	18	114
18th	4411	Christian Hamilton	Datchet Water SC	21	15	(DNC)	DNC	15	13	15	16	120
19th	3870	Eddie Gatehouse	Hayling Island SC	20	19	18	14	17	‑21	17	17	122
20th	4293	Alex Reid	Grafham Water/QMSC	(DNC)	16	DNC	DNC	DNC	17	14	13	135
21st	4546	Tom Lambert	Wilsonian SC	(DNC)	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	14	12	12	138
22nd	3945	Chris Tilbrook		18	17	17	16	(DNC)	DNC	DNC	DNC	143
23rd	3890	Katie Hughes	Loch Lomond	19	(DNC)	DNC	DNC	16	19	19	DNC	148
24th	4492	Nic Streatfeild	Rutland SC	11	(DNC)	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	161