RHKYC member wins International Moth European Championship 2024
by Guy Nowell 25 Sep 07:50 UTC
19-22 September 2024
Moth Euro 2024 © PROFS/Simon Hörmandinger.
Huge congratulations to RHKYC member Nicolai Jacobsen on winning the 2024 Moth European Championship. Nicolai finished 4th in the 2022 Europeans, and top of the heap this time, and it just doesn't get better than that. If you are writing your name on a trophy alongside Paul Goodison, Chris Rashley and Francesco Bruni, then you must be doing something right.
This year's Moth Europeans were held at Ebensee, Austria, at the southern end of the Traunsee. All the Alpine lakes are some sort of picturesque, and Traunsee is no exception. However, the exceptionally heavy rains in Europe in early September meant that huge amounts of debris were flushed out of the River Traun. The lake water was no longer its usual clear and limpid blue, and there was enough floating vegetation - from twigs all the way up to proper logs - to put the entire regatta in question just a week out from kick-off. Contact between a large piece of tree and a foil strut travelling at 30kts would be messy, to say the least. A lot of hard work from the organisers, and a general vote from the competitors, and the event was back on track.
The composition of the fleet was exceptionally young this year. Jacobsen estimated that at least half the entries were in the Youth (Under 23) division. There were a few names absent on account of other duties in Barcelona, "but the best sailors were there." The regatta was sailed in marginal conditions; the Moth lower wind limit is 6.5 kts, and it was only the last two days of the programme that saw any breeze over than 8 kts. "There weren't too many 'dry laps' from anyone for the first few days," said Nicolai. Indeed, he opened the batting with a 14th place (which was later discarded). "That didn't feel too good. The first race was in the lightest breeze we had. Only a few boats a few boats were foiling - I got stuck in a light patch and couldn't get going again." After that it was a case of 'don't look back'. Nicolai's worst finish was 7th, and all other races were on the podium. He won the Championship with a day to spare, wrapping up with two bullets to finish 6 points ahead of Erik Lindahl (FIN) and 8 in front of Antonin Radue (SUI).
"It felt pretty good to win, especially after a rather disappointing Foiling Week at Malcesine in July. There was a lot of hard work after that: I went to two separate training camps, and put in a lot of time with the Kiwis and the Italians, training on Lake Garda. A lot of it was about starting skills, getting going faster, and then staying fast. In a Moth, speed is everything. Sailors often go quite a lot further than the minimum on a leg in order to stay in the breeze. All the little increments add up, but one thing is constant - the need for speed!"
Nicolai also noted that the predominance of U23 competitors was very encouraging for the class. "The class is attractive to younger sailors, and that is positive. Younger sailors are beginning to displace the older ones in the numbers list. When Tom Slingsby won Foiling Week 2022 at the age of 38, he said "watch out for the young guys, and watch out for Nicolai Jacobsen. He's only 19, and I wish I was still 19!"
Next up, Nicolai takes a break (but not too much of one) before heading to Manly, New Zealand, in mid-November to prepare for the Moth Worlds. Expect 10-15 knots from the NE, and 27 degrees cegrees C.
Meanwhile, congratulations once again: it's good to see 'RHKYC' at the top of a Championship as prestigious as the Moth Europeans.