Wetsuit Outlet International Moth UK Championship at Restronguet Sailing Club - Day 1

With 33 foiling Moths in the stunning surroundings at Restronguet Sailing Club, all was set for a fantastic first day on the water at the Wetsuit Outlet International Moth UK Nationals.

The North Westerly wind direction was ideal for the Carrick Roads, allowing for the shortest of sails from shore to the race start area.

Sadly, for two sailors their event was over before it even started. Gareth Davies and Mike Lennon collided before the sequence had started for the first race, resulting in Gareth being whisked to hospital with suspected broken ribs, while Mike had to be towed ashore with severe damage to the bow of his boat.

The Restronguet SC safety team quickly got the situation sorted and the first race started after only a ten minute delay. The race team, led by the legendary David Campbell-James, achieved four races for the fleet, utilising as long a race course as possible, while avoiding the many cruising yachts and pleasure craft who were also out enjoying the water.

Orkun Soyer on Day 1 of the Wetsuit Outlet International Moth UK Nationals - photo © Mark Jardine / IMCAUK

Gusts streaked across the bay in seemingly random places, but the top sailors found them with unerring accuracy. Staying in the breeze was paramount, as the lulls were more than capable of dropping a Moth off the foils during a manoeuvre.

Quick out of the blocks was Eddie Bridle, who only entered the event on Wednesday, knocking in a pair of bullets followed by a second and a third, to lead after day 1: "It was a great first day, pretty shifty and kept me on my toes, but I seemed to have a pretty solid day results-wise. You had to find a channel in the breeze to take you to the top mark, and also tacking in the pressure - never tack in the holes, otherwise it's curtains! The rule is to keep in the breeze for the manoeuvres and don't change anything when you go through a light patch."

Eddie Bridle on Day 1 of the Wetsuit Outlet International Moth UK Nationals - photo © Mark Jardine / IMCAUK

Kyle Stoneham also set down a firm marker for the event, starting with a fourth and third, then stepping up a gear with a first and second. A great day for a sailor who is more known for his strong wind performance: "I've been working hard on my sailing in the lighter end of the spectrum, spending a lot of time on the water and adjusting my setup for take-off and light wind tacks, so I'm really happy. My philosophy is put the work in and the results should come. I enjoy the training and we've got such a good little group in Weymouth. If it comes good at an event it's a bonus!"

Kyle Stoneham on Day 1 of the Wetsuit Outlet International Moth UK Nationals - photo © Mark Jardine / IMCAUK

Kyle's final race looked like it could have been a disaster, with him being upwind of the line by a fair distance at start time, but he wasn't phased and soon got back in the mix: "I caught some weed on my horizontal which I couldn't remove sailing, so I sailed to find some darker water with pressure to clear the weed. I saw the fleet was struggling, and I came into pressure, gybed downwind a few times, started on port below the fleet, and popped out still on the foils, so it wasn't really a big penalty. I think David's (Campbell-James) decision not to use the U flag here gave people more options in the pre-start, as you don't have to be behind the line with a minute to go."

Lowriding start to Race 4 on Day 1 of the Wetsuit Outlet International Moth UK Nationals - photo © Mark Jardine / IMCAUK

Lurking just three points behind Kyle is the defending champion Simon Hiscocks, who finished his day with a race win: "It was a mixed day and I struggled in the middle two races but came back strong in the last one. I was probably guilty of failing to execute on the start in the middle two. It was a good day in very challenging conditions, with foiling, no foiling, gusts, lulls and shifts - it was difficult to prioritise what was important. Most people had a mixed bag, but Eddie and Kyle did a really good job."

Simon Hiscocks on Day 1 of the Wetsuit Outlet International Moth UK Nationals - photo © Mark Jardine / IMCAUK

Jack Wetherell was also putting together a good series with 3,2,3 results until an eleventh in the final race of the day put a bigger score on his card: "There were lots of things going on in the race course, gusts, headlands, current, weed - very tricky. It was enjoyable, but it could also be frustrating, for example in two of the races I finished a couple of boat lengths behind Eddie, and then there was around a minute to the boat behind us, but then in the last race the fleet was a lot more condensed, and I had my bad race which ended up being high points."

Jack Wetherell on Day 1 of the Wetsuit Outlet International Moth UK Nationals - photo © Mark Jardine / IMCAUK

Alex Adams found consistency like no other, finishing fifth in every race, which baffled him slightly; "I'm not quite sure how I managed to do that. There were some great snakes and ladders, but you could see where they were and it was different every lap as to which side paid. Great fun racing!"

Alex Adams on Day 1 of the Wetsuit Outlet International Moth UK Nationals - photo © Mark Jardine / IMCAUK

The forecasts for Friday range between sunshine interspersed with a few clouds, to hail, rain, thunder and lightning, with a moderate to fresh North / North Westerly breeze. Fingers crossed the storm clouds stay away!

IMCA UK would like to say a massive thank-you to the event and class sponsors:

Title Sponsor

Wetsuit Outlet - Wetsuit Outlet is Europe's largest technical watersports clothing and equipment retailer. Priding themselves on friendly, expert customer service, Wetsuit Outlet stock a huge range of the top watersport brands including Zhik, Gill, Musto, Sail Racing, Gul and more.

Event Sponsors

Maguire Boats - Builders of the Exocet and Aerocet Moths. Simon and the team at Maguire boats have put in a huge amount of time developing designs in the class, as well as spending countless hours during Moth class events repairing and fettling hulls and foils for the sailors.

Allen - UK manufactures of performance sailing hardware. The Allen design team works closely with many of the world's best Moth sailors and builders to design, create and produce race winning hardware that meet the demands of the International Moth class.

Class Sponsor

Noble Marine Insurance - continued support has allowed IMCA to subsidise entry fees for this year's championship, the support the class receives is directly linked to the policies they provide Moth sailors with a discount for class members.

Results after Day 1: