Payne takes title

Simon Payne won the Moth National Championships at WPNSA this weekend

34 International Moths met up at Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy this weekend to take part in their National Championships. With almost exactly a month to go until the World Championships at the same venue, the regatta was set to show the form of the UK Mothies before taking on the rest of the world.

With a number of Moth sailors needing new kit measuring before the World Championships WPNSA was a busy place on Friday before the event began. Class measurer Adam May had the unenviable job of sitting in a hangar all day with a tape measure. Evidently the change from a triangulation measurement method to a true area method has caused some difficulties for sail makers as a significant number of new sails failed to measure. These were hastily re-cut during the course of Friday afternoon and duly re-measured.

Saturday dawned bright and sunny with a decent 12 knot breeze blowing across Weymouth harbour. Triangle/sausage courses were being used for the weekend and perhaps serving to underline just how quick these 11ft boats are they would be racing on the same course as the Devon Yawls for the entirety of the weekend.

Current European Champion and many people’s predicted favorite for the weekend, Simon Payne, got off to a perfect start winning the first race in a building 15 knots. Adam May sailing the same boat as last year - his new Velociraptor is still being finished - took second in spite of having very little time on the water. James Roche who is still relatively new to the class having owned his boat for a little over a year surprised many by taking third place just ahead of defending National Champion, Jason Belben. Mike Lennon at his first National Championships took fifth position. With a building breeze errors began to creep in and a number of Moths were forced to head in due to breakages.

The wind continued to build throughout the course of the day and the top five showed the rest of the fleet how it was done sharing the top five positions between them throughout the course of the day. Payne had the best of it finishing the day with two firsts and a second, while Belben improved throughout with a fourth a second and a first. May was unfortunate to suffer a breakage in the third race of the day sending him home with a second, a third and a DNC.

With the wind blowing around the 20 knot mark by the end of the day, the boat park was a scene of hasty repairing through the early part of the evening before the fleet retired en masse to 'The Cove' pub.

The forecast for day two was for light winds getting lighter so it was a pleasant surprise to be greeted at WPNSA with a decent 10-12 knots and blazing hot sunshine on Sunday morning.

With the windward mark parked firmly under the harbour wall the wind was increasingly unstable as the fleet progresses up the beat. The trick for the day would be to stay in the big breeze patches, taking advantage of full speed foiling. Simon Payne continued as he had for much of Saturday taking a bullet in the tricky conditions with May making up for his disappointing end to Saturday with a second place.

As the wind continued to drop a premium on foiling in the lighter patches began to come out. Payne once again took the bullet in the second race of the day, securing the National Championships and first Master. A fifth in the final race of the day was enough for Belben to finish up in second place overall. A disappointing eighth position for May, coupled with another solid third for Roche saw the latter squeeze into third position overall. Lennon took position and was first newcomer for the event.

A range of conditions from 7-20 knots had made for a great Championship in perfect sunny weather. Simon Payne has shown his intent for the World Championships next month but with a host of newcomers and old hands nipping at his heels it will not be easy. Hopefully WPNSA will deliver more of the same in one month’s time when 100 foilers are competing for the World title.

Results:

Pos	Helm	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	Total	Net
1st	Simon Payne	1	1	-2	1	1	2	8	6
2nd	Jason Belben	4	2	1	3	2	-5	17	12
3rd	James Roche	3	-5	3	4	5	3	23	18
4th	Adam May	2	3	(DNC)	2	4	8	54	19
5th	Michael Lennon	-5	4	5	5	3	4	26	21
6th	Adrian Murphy	-11	11	8	9	6	1	46	35
7th	Andrew Friend	6	7	6	-10	7	10	46	36
8th	Alan Watson	14	15	12	-19	11	9	80	61
9th	Ricky Tagg	10	9	4	8	(DNC)	DNC	101	66
10th	Rod Harris	22	-23	10	14	10	11	90	67
11th	Alex Knight	9	6	(DNC)	6	DNC	14	105	70
12th	Paul Hignett	18	17	7	(DNC)	15	15	107	72
13th	R Wheeler	21	-22	11	21	18	7	100	78
14th	Douglas Imrie	17	16	9	17	(DNC)	19	113	78
15th	Chris Anstead	12	12	(DNC)	11	9	DNC	114	79
16th	Colin Newman	19	18	(DNC)	16	14	16	118	83
17th	Ant Chapman	13	13	(DNC)	12	12	DNC	120	85
18th	Alex Adams	8	10	(DNC)	7	DNC	DNC	130	95
19th	Doug Pybus	(DNC)	20	DNC	15	13	13	131	96
20th	Paul Hayden	(DNC)	DNC	DNC	13	8	6	132	97
21st	Helen Rollinson	20	21	(DNC)	22	17	18	133	98
22nd	Katherine Knight	23	24	(DNC)	18	19	17	136	101
23rd	Mike Cooke	7	8	(DNC)	DNC	DNC	DNC	155	120
24th	Tom Whicker	(DNC)	DNC	DNC	DNC	16	12	168	133
25th	Martin Fear	16	14	(DNC)	DNC	DNC	DNC	170	135
26th	Simon Propper	15	19	(DNC)	DNC	DNC	DNC	174	139
27th	Piers Thomas	(DNC)	DNC	DNC	DNC	20	DNC	195	160
28th	Leo Carswell	(DNC)	DNC	DNC	20	DNC	DNC	195	160
29th	Toby Heppell	(DNC)	DNC	DNC	23	DNC	DNC	198	163
30th	Mike Owey	(DNC)	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	210	175
30th	Nils Warken	(DNC)	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	210	175
30th	Dave Dobrijevic	(DNC)	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	210	175
30th	Giovanni Galeotti	(DNC)	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	210	175
30th	Jason Russell	(DNC)	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	210	175