MOCRA National Championships 2024 at Royal Victoria Yacht Club and Bembridge Sailing Club

After a very successful 2023 Championships hosted by the Royal Victoria YC and Bembridge SC held off Wootton Creak and Bembridge during the week prior to the RTIR 2023, a repeat for the 2024 Championships was programmed. Although fewer entries (10) than the previous year (19), which was a bit disappointing, it was still a very enjoyable event with plenty of close racing.

The start of Tuesday's first race was delayed for 15 minutes as the scheduled start time of 11:00 was a bit optimistic for the Committee boat (Sea Breeze) to float off her over night berth on the RVYC pontoon. With the start line 100m east of Quarr, they were set a three round windward/leeward course with Colette as the windward mark and Quarr as the leeward mark. After a good start, the front four soon showed the rest that they were not for catching!

However, the question of who was going to take line honours was certainly not clear until the final leg of what turned out to be a shortened course of 2 rounds. Sanity, Alini, Origami and Uno regularly traded places but at the finish Alini crossed the line two minutes ahead of Sanity with Alini a minute later and Origami a further minute later. On corrected time, Origami took first place with Molly 5 taking a surprising second with Sanity third. Having the highest rating of this year's entries, Uno's corrected time put her in 8th. Stampede II, the slowest of the fleet completed only one round so her time was corrected and although it put her into 10th place, her crew still enjoyed themselves.

The second race started off well; Origami was inch perfect as they began the three round Special Course 1 with Peel Bank as the windward mark, Peel Wreck the wing mark and Quarr as the leeward mark. With the breeze increasing to 15 knots, all looked good for a fast race.

However as the race progressed the breeze dropped and although the front 4 again dominated and just completed the course before it dropped off completely, the other six boats really struggled. But full marks to them all for persevering as they battled to make progress against the tide. Frustratingly for Dragon Boy, having been within 10 yards of the finish line she took another half an hour to finally find enough zephyrs to actually cross it. After a good battle with Sanity and Uno, Alini took line honours finishing ahead of Uno; Sanity was third and Origami was fourth. On corrected time, Origami took her second win, with Sanity second and Alini third.

With no sign of a worthwhile breezy and the prospect of chasing round it around in circles, it was decided to abandon further racing for the day and head back to the RVYC pontoon.

Day 3 - MOCRA National Championships at Royal Victoria YC and Bembridge SC - photo © Mike Samuelson

It was mirror calm as the fleet started to leave Wootton Creek at 11:45 on Wednesday; so with the prospect of sticking to the Championship programme out of the window, the Race Officers decided very wisely to get boats to motor with the tide towards No Mans Land Fort in the hopes that the breeze would materialise as forecast. Things began to look up just past the Fort so a line was hastily laid and a course set with a beat to Under Tyne, a run to Ruthven and a beat back to Under Tyne. Typically during the start sequence the breeze dropped and the race was nearly postponed, however in the end it was decided to keep it going and hope that the breeze would return. Although not very exciting sailing and the course was shortened to finish at Under Tyne, it nevertheless did mean that the fleet was now in Bembridge waters. Uno's powerful sail area provided her with line honours, finishing two minutes ahead of Alini, with Origami third, thirty seconds later. Close enough for her to again win on handicap, with Molly 5 picking up second again.

A quick relocation of the Committee Boat just north of Fitzwilliam set up the second race of the day which was a simple windward/leeward between Tara and Fitz. Starting in about 8 knots the fickle breeze was sufficient for the faster boats to get round in just under 40 minutes; not nearly enough for Uno to get far enough ahead for her handicap to be levelled out. Indeed the battle was really between Sanity and Alini with the former crossing the finish line less than a second ahead. Uno was third across the line, but on corrected time it was another win for Origami.

For the third and final race of the day, the course took them twice round the same Tara/Fitz loop before a broad reach to Undertyne, a run to Britten and a final beat to the finish at Garland. After a good start, it was Alini who again lead the way closely pursued by Sanity and Uno.

Little 3-D had an excellent race and was also not far behind the leaders. With the breeze dropping and veering, the beats lost some of their challenges, however it was great to be able to get the three races completed. Origami picked up her fifth win on handicap, with Alini second and Sanity third.

The forecast for the final day (Thursday) of the Championship looked good for some exciting racing; the problem however was that Friday's forecast was not looking very promising nor was Saturday's for the Round the Island Race. However, after considering the options it was decided to get at least one race in; in the event we got all three in and those who wanted to get back to Wootton Creek on completion were able to.

With the F4 breeze a little more southerly than the previous day, the line was set using Janson as the pin; Molly 5 timed her approach from the on course side of the line to perfection but it was Alini who got the best start accelerating as she crossed the line. Sadly the video clip was slightly out of focus so has not been posted. Having been shut out on the Committee Boat, Sanity was the last to cross the line but having gone about straight away to get clear air, she was second rounding the windward mark (Undertyne) behind Uno who was racing with a reef in their main. The reach to St Helens and onwards to Warner proved to be exciting as boats were accelerating down the larger waves. The long beat from Warner back to Undertyne saw Alini power into the lead ahead of Sanity, Uno and Origami. Although there was then a seven minute gap to Milly Mo, it was clear that she was revelling in the stronger breeze. But another win for Origami on handicap, with Sanity second and Alini third.

Day 1 - MOCRA National Championships at Royal Victoria YC and Bembridge SC - photo © Mike Samuelson

Sadly for Storm, after 2 frustrating days of light airs and the opportunity at last to show how fast she could go on her foils, she was not far from Undertyne on the first leg when her mast came tumbling down (apparently the ring holding the shrouds had failed). Fortunately no one was injured and once the rig was recovered and two of her crew had been dropped on BSC's supporting launch, she headed back to Chichester under her own power. Having made Warner, Stampede II decided to retire and headed back home to Wootton.

Using the same line, the second race of the day got away to a clean start with Sanity this time timing her approach from the on course side of the line perfectly. Setting three rounds of a windward/leeward course using Tara and Derrick and through the line to complete each round, turned out to be a bit ambitious and so the faster group were finished after two rounds and the slower group after one.

Going like a train, Alini lead throughout and finished a couple of minutes ahead of Uno with Sanity a minute later and Origami half a minute later. However, even though Alini and Origami were four minutes apart, on handicap it was still the latter who took their seventh win with Alini second and Sanity third.

The eighth and final race of the Championships used the same windward/leeward loop twice with the finish at Garland. Sanity again timed her approach to the start line from the on course side of the line to perfection and although Origami was shut out at the Committee Boat end of the line, she soon back in the mix at the front end of the fleet.

Alini lead the way with Sanity and Uno swapping places as the race progressed; the latter finished second just over twenty seconds behind Alini with Sanity a minute later and Origami thirty seconds later. Mid-fleet Milly Mo, Molly 5 and Dragon Boy all finished within half a minute of each other. On handicap it was yet another win for Origami, with Alini second and Molly 5 third.

With all eight races completed, it came as no surprise that Nick Wood and his crew in Origami were the overall Champions with 8 wins (6 to count); with the next two boats both on 15 points, on a very close count back Alini helmed by Mark Upton-Brown was second and Nigel Talbot in Sanity was third.

Sixth overall was the father and daughter combo of Andrew and Milly (who helmed throughout) Smith in Dragon Boy. While they sensibly did not attempt to fly their asymmetric during the final three races, it was still a great result for the youngest helm in the fleet.

Although the main trophies will be presented at the MOCRA annual Dinner in November, thanks to the generosity of the sponsors (Mermaid Gin, PR Systems Marine Electronics, Allspars masts and rigging, Highwater Sails & MultihullCentre.com) no boat went away empty handed from the Championship dinner held on Thursday evening at BSC.

Additional photos: flic.kr/s/aHBqjBv6sL

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Day 3 - MOCRA National Championships at Royal Victoria YC and Bembridge SC - photo © Mike Samuelson