British Moth Open at Leamington Spa Sailing Club
by Elaine Laverty 25 Apr 2022 20:03 BST
23 April 2022
British Moths at Leamington Spa © Jayne Whigham
Saturday 23rd April saw the return of the British Moth fleet after a break due to the pandemic. Three visitors joined four home sailors on what was forecast & proved to be a windy day.
After some discussion two of the sailors, current national champion Toby Cooper & former champion Tim Davison decided to mix things up & took a 3 minute penalty at the start of each race.
Race 1
The fleet got away cleanly with Elaine Laverty leading the way followed closely by Tom Billyard & Abby Freely. Three minutes after the first start Cooper & Davison set off to chase the pack, Cooper had a capsize at the third (gybe) mark allowing Davison to get away & then lost more time due to a navigational error. Meanwhile in the rest of the fleet Janet Smith was sailing a steady race using a Mini-Moth sail & Steve Baker was going well after a slightly late start. There were a few thrills & spills with Freely going in at the gybe mark & needing rescuing & Billyard got wiped out & thought he'd broken his rudder only to find it had a quick release cleat & all was fine but by then had retired. Laverty just held off the faster Davison to take the win & Cooper had fought his way to third after his tribulations.
Race 2
There was another clean start with Elaine Laverty taking an early lead, with no let up in the wind there were several rescues needed including Abby Freely & Steve Baker, Tom Billyard had another capsize but managed to self-rescue. Janet Smith sailed another solid race staying upright throughout. The faster sailors, Tim Davison & Toby Cooper eventually pegged back Laverty with Cooper taking the win followed by Laverty & Davison.
Race 3
A reduced fleet stayed out for the final race, disappointingly for the spectators everyone stayed upright this time, Toby Cooper caught Elaine Laverty up with a lap to go but didn't overtake allowing Laverty to win the race & win overall.
Overall Results:
1. Elaine Laverty (Leamington Spa)
2. Toby Cooper (Broxbourne)
3. Tim Davison (Medley)
4. Tom Billyard (Leamington Spa)
5. Janet Smith (Leamington Spa)
6. Stephen Baker (Leamington Spa)
7. Abby Freely (Hunts)