Lowrider International Moth UK National Championship 2024 at Weymouth - Day 2

Lowrider International Moth UK National Championship day 2 © Dougal Henshall

Tripping the light fantastic!

Race 3

Saturday morning saw a change to the start sequence, now it would be the Bytes who started first, followed 8 minutes later by the Moths. Once again Portland and Weymouth had delivered, with glorious sunshine and more breeze than some of the more dire forecasts had predicted.

Also delivering 'on the money' were the Race Team who correctly called not just the left shift but the softening of the breeze, setting a course that would test the heads out of the boat sailing skills on the beat. The start however would belong to one boat, the 60+ year old Duflos in the hands-on David Balkwill, who took the pin end and was soon wriggling its way up the beat.

Lyndon Beasley in the Magnum 6 was another one to get the all-important early part of the beat right, reaching the top mark in the company of a number of much faster (on paper) narrow boats.

Martin Harrison is showing some amazing boatspeed in these conditions in his Axeman 7, carving out his lead, a factoid that is giving the fleet food for thought as this had been expected to be a Hungry Tiger benefit. Indeed, a Tiger was the 'best of the rest' in the hands of George Edwards, who had left his father John, also in a Tiger, somewhere back in his wake.

For the spectators, the interest was just a bit further back and involved the battle of the Magnums, where Lyndon Beasley was having his work cut out to hold back the increasingly quick Ian Marshall but both of these must have been looking just a little way astern to where the Duflos was surely comfortably ahead under handicap terms.

At the finish Harrison again romped home with space to spare from Nigel Williams and Kevin Hope, whilst the two Magnums seemed joined at the hip. With just the short reach from Mark 4 to the finish to go Beasley held a narrow advantage which he held to be first of the Div 2 boats to cross, whilst the Duflos looked set to have the beating of them all.

After a long race these two boats were this close on the line, a great advert for the qualities of the Magnum 6, plus the skills of Lyndon Beasley and Ian Marshall - photo © Dougal Henshall

Race 4

With the wind softening and shifting further left one might have expected a delayed start, but the Mark layers were more than equal to the task and with the minimum of waiting around Race 4 got under way. Russel Wheeler made the most of the start, shooting out of the line at speed.

The Moth fleet are not known for their moderation, and this can also apply to their choice of beat strategy, some of the helms need to research the difference between a banana and an onion. Left paid, but to any great extreme, hitting the corners didn't seem to pay for anyone.

Katie Hughes looked a sound bet for a top podium finish, only for the speed of Martin Harison's Axeman to wear her down by the finish. But as an advert for the 'accessibility' of the Lowrider fleet, they don't get much better than this! - photo © Dougal Henshall

First to not just hit the front but to look good for the top result was Katie Hughes in her Skippy, who was leading at Mark 1 and soon showed impressive speed on the offwind legs. Looking ominous though would be Martin Harrison, who seems to have an extra gear for the beats, whilst George Edwards and Kevin Hope in the Magnum 9.5 formed the chasing group.

By the second lap Harrison had not just taken the lead but was moving into horizon job territory. Nigel Williams was well placed in yet another Axeman.... importantly there are moulds extant for this boat.

Ian Marshall was working hard to erode the distinction between Cat 1 and Cat 2 boats and although David Balkwill in the Duflos was again sailing fast than expected, all the signs are that Ian will be adding to his second place on corrected time from the day before.

Race 5

'Lunch was then taken' might hail from the game of cricket, but that was the reality as the fleets returned to the Centre for a break. But in the parlance of that 'other sport', the day would now take on that other cliché, as it was indeed a game of two halves. By the time the fleet returned to the water the sea breeze had kicked in, with a promise of more to come.

One of the wind readings relayed back to the Committee Boat was 240 degrees and 10kt, out on the media boat we concurred with the direction but were seeing a true 16kts, heading towards 18. If you don't believe the anemometer then a look at how many boats were on their side told the real tale of what was going to be a belting, if testing afternoon.

After playing catch up to date with Martin Harrison, 2023 Champion Paul Hignett won the start of Race 5 and would lead around the first mark with a gaggle of boats, lead by Harrison in close pursuit. Harrison's windward speed would take him to the front, only for the better downwind speed of Hignett in the Hungry Tiger to take him downwind for his first win of the week.

In the lower divisions Ian Marshall, who had been so quick during the morning now found that he was losing out to Lyndon Beasley in the battle of the Magnum 6s. A number of the other older, less capable boats (and their helms) wisely took things easy which will no doubt shuffle the results somewhat.

Race 6

The sea breeze had settled down to the point of being fantastic for those who could enjoy it, a force too much for those in the slower boats, though the looks of absolute delight as they screamed down the reaches will ensure that this was an after that will rate highly on the FUN scale.

Best of all was the Aussie Scow, who had suffered a torrid morning, the ear to ear grim as he ate up the distance offwind was a delight to see.

One of those event defining moments! The gun has just gone and the two overall front runners indulge in a drag race away to the favoured left hand side of the course. Martin Harrison in 4043 would get there first and would record another win from Paul Hignett in 3029, though Paul would push him all the way - photo © Dougal Henshall

Out front it was once again the top two protagonists, though after losing his otherwise perfect record in Race 5 Martin Harrison was making sure that his dominance at the front of the fleet was restored. Hignett made sure that Harrison couldn't afford any mistakes by chasing him over two boisterous laps, then there was a gap to the Skippy of Nigel Williams before the remainder of a now tired fleet slogged up the beat but only had minimal relief on the reaches after the RO has wisely narrowed the course.

Media star of the day was Lyndon Beasley, who provided yet more proof of the exceptional all-round performance of the Magnum 6 by finishing well up to enjoy a boost to his over standings in the PY results.

Ian Marshall had been the best of the Div 2 boats on day 1, but the brisker conditions during the afternoon would take their toll with Ian suffering an uncharacteristic swim (he has form for doing this when there's a camera in range). Even so, Ian was another of the helms who looked to be enjoying the day to the max - photo © Dougal Henshall

Overall though the afternoon was a session for the heavy metal, the Tigers and Axemen to the fore as the made the most of the conditions.

Again, full marks to the Race Team who conducted a quick straw poll of finishers to see if there was any appetite for a fifth race, a move no doubt prompted by the prospect of a hot, sunny but windless Sunday.

At this point is only a forecast, today was breezier than expected but in a final cliché of the day, 'Tomorrow is another day': with a very low light wind barrier the oldies may yet still have their day in the sun!

Full results