British Moth Open at Leamington Spa Sailing Club

British Moths at Leamington Spa © Phil Muddeman & Jayne Whigham

On 20th June Leamington Spa Sailing Club held their British Moth Open Meeting that was postponed in March due to adverse weather. The forecast was for a reasonable breeze from the west (the best direction for the club) and a dry, warm day. There were 13 competitors on the day made up of 8 visitors and 5 home sailors.

Race 1 started cleanly with Toby Cooper (Broxbourne) quickly breaking free followed by Tim Davison (Medley), the pair made the first mark ahead of the rest of the fleet. Home sailor Elaine Laverty showed good speed and cleared both Toby Smith (Medley) and Andrew Perrot (Oxford) at the first mark to hold third place, these positions held for most of the race until Toby S eventually overhauled Elaine. Peter Angwin (Severn) came through strongly for fifth place and Andrew Parsons (Medley) was the only retirement of the day having had his tiller extension come adrift requiring a quick fix before race 2.

Race 2 was held back to back with race 1, again the fleet got away cleanly with Toby C showing a clean pair of heels, the real battle of the race was between Toby S, Andrew Perrot and Tim for the minor places with Toby S winning the battle and Tim finding himself in fourth place Pete Lee (Leamington Spa) in a boat borrowed for the day was fifth and Steve Baker (Leamington) was sixth.

After race 2 the fleet came in for a hearty lunch prepared by the lovely ladies in the galley.

Race 3 Toby C sat this race out as he had already won with 2 first places allowing other sailors to have a chance of a win. Tim showed a clean pair of heels from the start leaving Toby S battling in the middle of the fleet but eventually pulling through into second place and when they crossed the line the duty team were unable to split them and scored it as a draw, Peter Angwin was a good solid third having battled with Elaine for most of the race.

British Moths at Leamington Spa - photo © Phil Muddeman & Jayne Whigham

As is traditional at Leamington once the boats were packed the sailors were offered a selection of homemade cakes, special mention to Dot Meredith for her Victoria sandwich which was eaten in record time!

Prizes were presented, thanks were given, more cake was eaten before the visitors went on their way.

Overall Results: