International Moth Scottish Championship at Loch Lomond Dinghy Weekend

International Moth Scottish Championship 2026 © Emma Hepplewhite

The Garda of Scotland greeted the International Moth class on the 5th and 6th of September as part of Loch Lomond's Annual Dinghy Weekend.

The Regatta was split into 2 courses, with foiling boats (Moths and Waszps) on one and traditional boats on another. The breeze was shifty with lots of holes providing some difficulty in setting a course. Despite this, the race team, led by Duncan and the Hepplewhite family of Emma, Ellie, David, Kiara and Susie Edmond ran 4 outstanding races.

The first race started with James Sainsbury floating his P1 Aerocet onto the foils to take an early lead, unfortunately the breeze collapsed and the race was abandoned.

After a period of waiting, Race 1 restarted with freshening breeze, Joe Adams (Exploder V2) and Matt Lea (Aerocet) foiling off the pin. Adams took an early lead and proceeded to sail to the wrong windward mark, opening the door for Sainsbury to take the win ahead of his Rutland team mate Lea, with Donald Smith (Mach 2) cruising to a great 3rd place.

Race 2 started with Sainsbury pushing the line too hard and having to quickly gybe around the boat end. Lea and Adams drag raced out on port. Adams nailed the tack and hit the lay to take the lead, staying on the foils for the whole race to take a comfortable bullet. Lea and Sainsbury had a great battle managing the snakes and ladders, with Sainsbury ultimately linking the puffs better and taking 2nd place with Lea coming home 3rd.

Some drama between races, as Matt Lea’s new boat lost its rig. The safety crew led by Iain Hepplewhite and Simon Becket helped to recover the state of the art Aerocet to shore. Terrible luck for Matt, fortunately no lasting damage to man or machine and the boat was ready to sail again by the end of the day.

Race 3 kicked off with a stiffening breeze, which ended up dragging the windward mark downwind, resulting in a very skewed course, a rapid and exciting race! Adams hit the line fast and took a commanding lead from Sainsbury. The moths then led an exhilarating blast through the Waszp fleet who started 3 minutes ahead. Zigzagging through the Waszps at 27 knots was very good fun. Positions held, with Adams winning the race, Sainsbury 2nd and Phil Alderson (Exocet) coming through to take 3rd in his first ever Moth event.

Race 4 started low riding, but with breeze funneling from left and right, the fleet was optimistic that foiling was on the cards. Unfortunately the wind cancelled itself out and the race concluded with boats still not on the foils, Adams led from Sainsbury closely followed by Alderson for a very slow finish. Frustratingly, the breeze filled in shortly after.

By this stage, the fleet had been on the water for 4 hours and the decision was made to head in for beer and warmth.

Overall Joe Adams took the Scottish Champs ahead of James Sainsbury in a close 2nd with Phil Alderson coming 3rd.

The Moth Class is going from strength to strength, with affordable and competitive boats readily available and growth in all corners of the country, there has never been a better time to get involved.

Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy is hosting a Moth demo weekend on the 3rd and 4th of October. If you would like to try a moth or look at moths for sale - this is the best chance to do so.

Following this, the Moths are concluding 2027 with the End of Season Championship hosted at Rutland Sailing Club on the 17th and 18th of October. Enter here.