Wetsuit Outlet and Zhik International Moth World Championship Day 2
by Mark Jardine for IMCAUK 13 Jun 2023 19:48 BST
12-18 June 2023
Two days in, and no races sailed. Once again, the wind failed to rise above 6 knots for any significant period of time. This isn't what the 140 sailors from 24 countries around the world came to Weymouth for.
Frustration inevitably surfaces, and there was much talk this morning between the sailors about relaxing the pumping rule to allow racing to take place in lighter winds. Once a Moth is foiling it's possible to stay up and fast for a long time, but transitioning from lowriding to foiling takes some effort in the light stuff. This is something for the class to discuss over time, in conjunction with the working party on foils, to make sure they can sail in as wide a wind range as possible, and make the best of use of time at events.
Wednesday's racing has been brought forward to the much earlier start time of 8am to make use of any early breeze that may appear.
Craig Burlton has been to more than his fair share of regattas over the years, and has seen it all when it comes to the weather not playing ball, but it doesn't make it feel any better as he explained:
"It never gets any easier, and it seems to be happening more and more this year. The number of events where we've just sat around and not gone sailing is really frustrating."
There are sailors who have journeyed from the other side of the planet to compete here, which makes days of no racing especially galling. Stuart Goodes from Murrays Bay Sailing Club in New Zealand is one of those travellers, but he was pragmatic about the situation:
"You can't control the weather. Everywhere you go you hear 'It's never normally like this' right? I'm getting phone calls from my wife, who's in the south of France, saying, 'Why don't you just come here?'"
Harry Melges has travelled from the USA., but has been over in the UK for a while training on Portland Harbour and hopes that the early start will result in racing finally starting:
"It's definitely been quite light for the past few days, but hopefully the next couple of days look better. I've been here for quite a bit training, and we've had some easterlies early in the morning. If we get out at 8, we'll have some good races."
David Chisholm has travelled over from Germany with his ten-year-old Moth to take part, and while he's happy to be here, he would be far happier out on the water:
"I think we're all a bit disappointed to be truthful. We've had a couple of weeks of training here in great weather. It's unfortunate, but your heart goes out to the guys from Argentina and other countries around the world, as we've been bigging up the venue for ages and it hasn't really turned it on. You get all the different theories as to why the sea breeze isn't filling in, out in the dinghy park and over a coffee, but at the end of the day you've got to sail in what you've got. We've got a very early start tomorrow - I don't think I've ever sailed a Moth that early in the morning in my life!"
It's going to be an early night for the Moth fleet with the alarm clocks set for sunrise... which is 5am.