British Moth 90th Anniversary National Championship at Chelmarsh Sailing Club

British Moth Nationals at Chelmarsh © Chelmarsh SC

British Moth Nationals at Chelmarsh © Chelmarsh SC

The British Moth fleet returned to Chelmarsh Sailing Club for their 90th Anniversary National Championships on 27th July with a programme of seven races over 3 days.

The fleet was a little depleted compared with the last few years for a number of reasons but with boats from 9 different clubs around the country the racing was competitive throughout the championships with only one DNC & no DNFs for the whole competition.

The Wednesday morning saw the bulk of the fleet arrive, there were a few early arrivals the previous afternoon, there was much fettling & bottom polishing to be observed & a fair bit of discussion about the wind forecast (or lack thereof).

After an early afternoon briefing the fleet set off for the first race, Andy Matthews (Fowey Gallants SC0 took an early lead but eventually lost out to Toby Cooper (Broxbourne SC), this set the scene for most of the week. After what was supposed to be a quick comfort break but morphed into full tea & cakes the fleet returned to the water on a dying breeze (the extended break was possibly an error), once again Matthews had a good start but was overtaken by Cooper & lost a further two places on the last downwind leg with Tim Davison (Medley SC) scoring a second place & James Clancy (Desborough SC) third. Further back in the fleet a battle was brewing between the two women competing for the Ladies trophy with Abby Freely (Hunts SC) scoring a 10th & 12th & Elaine Laverty (Leamington Spa SC) an 11th & 10th.

Day 2 saw a slightly fresher breeze fill in before the start making for an enjoyable days sailing, the results for the day saw Toby Cooper score three bullets & Andy Matthews had a good solid day on the water with two seconds & a fourth & Tim Davison looking good in third. Jonathan Carter (Chelmarsh SC) in a boat borrowed from the ever generous Ray Andrews was getting to grips with it & scored a third place in race 4. The race for the Ladies trophy was still tight with Elaine Laverty having a small advantage over Abby Freely leaving it all to play for on day 3. The better breeze on day 2 saw good performances from Manuel Greenwood (Telford SC) & Gavin Goodall (Telford SC) at the rear of the fleet but wasn’t reflected in the results.

After the second days racing the BMBA held their AGM followed by the annual Championship Dinner, once again Ray Andrews did us proud by providing an excellent caterer & live entertainment.

Day 3 saw a return to light winds. With two back to back races, an early start & a few hangovers it looked to be a challenging morning, despite having the championship tied up Toby Cooper sportingly joined the fleet & pootled round with the mid-fleet group, in the first race of the morning Andy Matthews made the most of the opportunity & built up a lead that would have probably have seen him beat Cooper anyway. Abby Freely also had a burst of speed after some serious overnight boat bimbling & looked to have the Ladies trophy tied up with a sixth placed compared to Elaine Laverty in 10th. The last race of the Championship saw a return to form from Tim Davison with him taking the win followed by Matthews & James Clancy taking third, Laverty turned the tables on Freely by scoring a sixth to her 10th to take the Ladies trophy.

Boats were quickly packed away & lunch eaten before the prize giving. As well as Toby Cooper winning overall Tim Davison won the Veterans Trophy, Elaine Laverty the Ladies Cup & Manuel Greenwood took the vintage boat trophy. Medley Sailing Club won the ‘Transom Trophy’ for best club (Tim Davison 3rd, Toby Smith 6th & Rob Paynter 9th).

Overall Results:
If you finished in the top ten at the British Moth nationals then enter your Gear Guide information here

British Moth Nationals at Chelmarsh - photo © Chelmarsh SC