International Moth End of Season Championship at Rutland Sailing Club

Jason Belben during the International Moth End of Season Championship at Rutland Sailing Club © Archie Baker

Kyle Stoneham during the International Moth End of Season Championship at Rutland Sailing Club © Archie Baker

After such a long, hot summer, the International Moth End of Season Championship at Rutland began with quite a shock to the system, as sailors unloaded boats in a biting 6ºC northerly wind. So accustomed had we become to warmth that some even forgot to bring coats, and were quickly reminded why many sailors (and moths) choose to hibernate over winter.

Fortunately, the weekend also brought bright clear skies and relatively mild water, which was soon filled with a frenzy of high-speed action, and also quite a few swimming sailors as the gusty conditions tested even the most experienced members of the fleet.

With wind speeds ranging from 8 to 28kts, and gusts rarely aligning with the gradient direction, getting the boat cleanly around the course became the order of the weekend. Anyone who was able to consciously play the abundant shifts while hanging on to a skittish boat was doing very well indeed!

Modern moths will comfortably exceed 20kts upwind, which makes lulls as much of a challenge as gusts, as in a severe lull your apparent wind and momentum effectively put you head to wind, regardless of how much you bear away.

Moths exaggerate the challenge further as windward heel both increases your righting moment and decreases your sail load, creating a positive feedback loop in both gusts and lulls that require constant pre-emptive corrections, or a swim. Finally, the angles sailed downwind can vary by 40º just with wind speed, making a mockery of lay lines and meaning obstacles could come from anywhere. Suddenly a large reservoir becomes really quite small!

These challenges contributed to 8 exhilarating races, and sailors came ashore in good spirits, humbled and thrilled in equal measure. For anyone looking for the ultimate dinghy sailing experience - this is where you will find it!

Kyle Stoneham put on an impressive display of boat handling to claim 7 bullets and the event win, with Jason Belben and David Jessop in 2nd and 3rd, with David showing that even an unmodified 8-yr-old boat can enjoy great racing.

A notable mention to Callum Wyper in his newly extensively home-modified Exocet, which showed an impressive turn of pace and reliability, despite plenty of entertainingly vocal crashes. A very warm welcome too, to the new members of the fleet - we look forward to witnessing your progress next year!

Overall Results: