40+ for the Moth UK Nationals

Strong line-up as Torquay regatta for the foilers sets sail today

The International Moth UK National Championship is due to start today (Thursday) in Torquay, held out of the Royal Torbay Yacht Club. At the time of writing (with at least two hours to go prior to the start of the first race) the entry list remains provisional at 40 boats, including many of the class’ hot shots and several from overseas.

Favourite for this year’s Nationals title must be Mach 2 importer Simon Payne who in Dubai earlier this year notched up his second World Championship win in his all-black 11ft foiler. Payne is once again maintaining that he has done "very little sailing" since the Worlds (although we hear reports to the contrary and when he claimed this prior to the Worlds it didn’t seem to matter...)

However competition for the World Champ will be stiff. Over from Switzerland is the European champion Arnaud Psarofaghis, while Hyde Sail’s Mike Lennon has been sailing his boat regularly since it returned from Dubai. According to Lennon he hasn’t changed his already tweaky boat since the Worlds but is using a new sail developed by Hyde.

Aardvark Technology’s Mike Cooke is back to defend his UK National Championship title and is sailing the latest incarnation of his Ninja design. Other potential series winners are Jason Belben and Richard Lovering.

The UK Nationals run from Thursday 8 July until Sunday 11 July with two races scheduled on the first and last days and three on Friday and Saturday. On Saturday some ‘slalom races’ will be sailed after racing although they won't score as part of the championship.

Weatherwise the Met Office is forecasting 8 knots from the southwest this afternoon with 12 knots tomorrow 14 on Saturday and 10.5 on Sunday. The high res GRIBs for Torbay this afternoon are looking more promising with 10-15 knots from the SSW with the wind veering into the west and dropped later in the afternoon.

Provisional entry list: