British Moth Open at Medley Sailing Club

Sailed at Oxford on the River Thames, the Medley Moth Bowl has been held every year since 1955. The current format is 5 races for the Bowl plus one sudden-death race for the Bossom Cup.

With bright sunshine and wispery clouds and light winds blowing over Port Meadow to greet the fleet on Saturday morning all seemed set for an exciting weekend. As arrival at the club showed boats being rigged all over the place.

In Race 1 Simon Hall (Maidenhead SC) made a flying start in the light airs but was overtaken at the first mark by Tim Davison (Medley SC) and Tim Lupton (SESCA). With Toby Cooper (Broxbourne SC) joining the leaders the pack slowly split into two. After much place changing and one capsize (Change sides when you tack Rob). Tim Davison took line honours form 13 times National Champion Toby Cooper, with Tim Lupton coming 3rd.

After a stonking lunch the helms waddled to their boats for races 2 and 3, which were to be sailed back to back. Davison and Cooper diced for two laps, Cooper eventually sailing through Davison's lee at the finish for the gun. Ian Miller (Medley SC) showed good speed to take third.

With the 3rd race due to start all seemed well until 30 seconds before the start signal, when a strong unexpected gust came over the Port Meadow and caused chaos with the fleet as the boats jostled for position for the start. With boats going in all directions there were number of start line incidents that left one boat on the bank and anouther capsized across the river. Luckily no major damage was done and two boats forced over the line to avoid damage including local sailor David Long, who had skillfully avoided any collisions.

Toby Cooper emerged from the tangled mess and led the race throughout. Davison worked his way through the fleet to second. Alan Godfrey (Medley SC) pipped Tim Lupton to 3rd place.

With some of the fleet disappearing the remainder stayed to enjoy the hospitality of a local restaurant. However Sunday morning dawned wet, windy and a lot cooler than the day before.

Race 4 started once again upstream form the club but the downstream start lured Toby Cooper into a false sense of security as he was lured over the line, allowing Tim Davison to lead from start to finish. Cooper eventually pulled back to second, with Tim Lupton third.

After this race the fleet ventured to the clubhouse for lunch before setting off for the final two races of the program which were due to be sailed back to back again.

Race 5 was the sudden death Bossoms Cup. In the worsening weather (and the shrinking fleet) Cooper started well, taking an early lead, with Davison behind. However at the end Lupto managed to get a final spurt of speed and managed to pass Davison on the finish line.

With Davison and Cooper on equal points ther was all to sail for. Both helms broke from the fleet early and sailed for an hour with barely a feeler gauge between them. But a t the finish it was Davison who had the half length advantage over Cooper, who was gallant in defeat. Tim Lupton kept up his consistent finishes by coming 3rd once again.

Many thanks to those on the shore who provided food, hot drinks and land side support for the who event. And to the duty teams OODs John Venn (Saturday) and Iain Tullis (who braved the poor weather on Sunday).

Overall Results:

Moth Bowl
1st Tim Davison, 5pts
2nd Toby Cooper, 6 pts
3rd Tim Lupton, 13pts

Ladies Trophy: Abby Freely (SESCA)

Bossoms Cup
1st Toby Cooper
2nd Tim Lupton
3rd Tim Davison