Chris Rashley has lit up the scoreboard yet again at the 2013 Moth Europeans in Sicily to take his third consecutive Moth Europeans title.

With top place on the podium in Germany in 2011, Garda 2012 and now Sicily in 2013, the 24 year old is proving to be quite the young upstart. Focusing on consistency and ultimate boat preparation, he provides an excellent role model on how to put together championship winning performances.

With great support from his long-term sponsors Royal London Yacht Club, the Stokes Bay sailor learnt his Moth craft in his Ellway-designed Ninja back in 2011. From his very first Moth open, he has led from the front. His switch to the Exocet in early 2012, designed again by Kevin Ellway and built by Maguire Boats, has further enhanced his dominance.

Unbeknown to many, Chris is no stranger to the podium as he has several National and European championship titles from many different classes under his belt. We managed to catch up with Chris last week and had a few questions to throw at him.

Q. How are you feeling now you have done what no one else has achieved in the history of the moth class being a consecutive triple European Champion (since the introduction of foils)?

A. I’m delighted to have won the Euros this year. I’ve been off the water most of the winter coaching 29ers and 49ers, so I was aiming to use the event for racing practice and time on the water – especially since we’ve had such a bad winter. But it’s been great to get my season off to such a flying start.

Q. What were the conditions like in Sicily?

A. The conditions at Sicily were varied and challenging, with plenty of short, steep chop thrown up over the windy days. Racing was cancelled on the first two days of the championships and the sailors sat ashore under postponements for lengthy periods throughout the whole event.

Q. How did you manage to remain in control with such adverse conditions?

A. It’s hard to maintain your focus and motivation under those circumstances. After we missed the first two days, and the conditions were so difficult, I knew it was likely we would not have many races. This meant that there would potentially be no discard and that every race was going to count. In the end we did get enough races in to get a discard, but it went down to wire.

Q. Did anyone pose a threat to you at the Championships?

A. Mike Lennon in his new Exocet put in a sterling performance. I’ve never seen him go so fast and he was ballistic in light airs. He was a serious challenger to me right up until the last race – but fortunately we had 12 knots of consistent sailing conditions for that final race and everything came good for me. Third place went to my training buddy, Jason Belben. It was great to stand next to him on the podium. We’ve been training together at Stokes Bay for a long time now and he pushes me really hard. He’s the perfect training partner.

Q. Is there any one you would like to mention that helped your campaign?

A. I’ve been using Allen fittings which keeps my boat completely UK-built and I’ve also been using a C-Tech Mast which Kevin Ellway and I have developed in association with Alex Vallings. Kevin has been invaluable with all the development work he has made on the Exocet and helping me continually push things forward. I would also like to thank the Royal London Yacht Club for their continued support in helping me to achieve my ambitions. I would also like to mention Peter Taylor from the Royal London YC for his guidance with my program. Simon Maguire from Maguire boats for providing me with the race winning platform from last year onwards.

Q. What are your plans now moving forward?

A. In the short term I am preparing for my home club open at Stokes Bay on 15^th and 16^th June and then the Nationals at Castle Cove two weeks later. After that I am looking forward to this year’s Worlds in Hawaii. I’m currently ranked 7^th in the world and I am definitely looking for a top ten finish this year. But my main sights are set on the 2014 Worlds in the UK.

With the number of high calibre Moth sailors increasing every year both in the UK and abroad, it will be a tough but exciting fight for the title of 2014 World Champion. Good luck to Chris and all the UK Mothies.

After a long cold winter the UK Moth sailors headed out to Sicily in search of sun and sailing time at the 2013 Europeans. There was a sense of what was to come when early arrival, Mike Lennon, had spent more time sat in his chair in the shade than on the water; the wind being either too much in the morning or cutting out by the afternoon.
The practice race provided sailors with an indication of the sailing conditions with a variable force wind and a big shift to the right but nothing was to prepare them for the next two days.
The area was in a region of the Sirocco wind and it blew with vengeance on the first 2 days of the regatta up to 40 knots, the only thing to do was to tie the boat down hard. Some intrepid sailors did venture out in a bid to up the Moth speed record, Chris Rast put in a brief performance clocking 32.2 Knots, while Ben Paton gave further entertainment clocking 29.2 Knots.
After two days of getting familiar with the dinghy park the Championship finally started with a moderate southerly wind which flicked to the right and varied in strength finally finishing the day non foiling. Chris Rashley started strongly with two firsts while, Mike, Ben and Tom Offer put in some consistent results.

The results posted caused some entertainment then and throughout the week in there accuracy and errors which were blamed on James Phare presumably changing sail number on entry although this might have been lost in translation!

Thursday started with a 20-25 knots offshore breeze and after managing to negotiate  the shallows and make it to the start line this promptly cut out at the start gun resulting in a random race which was abandoned. The afternoon saw a light to moderate breeze with Chris’s dominance being broken by Mike on the last run followed by Jason Belben.

The Friday saw another day on the shore, this time waiting for the wind, the most competitive racing being the airbed race in front of the club from camp Ninja. As always upon postponement for another day the wind kicked in and gave some of the best sailing of the week. The evenings social was the Championship Dinner which for some spilled over to the early hours of Saturday and some 4am skinny dipping.

So we had reached the final day with still only 3 races sailed and a likely hood of a series without a discard due to a 1300 cut off and some sailors feeling not so well from the night before. However after an hour wait, enough wind to foil came from the north and the event was still effectively open. The first race was never confirmed until the end with radical place changes and some low riding and spectacular running aground from the Patonator;  this being won by the Swiss with Mike second and Chris 4th. So for once in the Championship Chris was under pressure from Mike for the final race which brought in the discard. His dominance was not in doubt though when he finished first, Jason second and Mike third after a downwind collision. This gave Chris the European title for the third time in successive years, also meaning the top five boats were British using Exocet designs and a variation in rigs.

Questions to be answered:
Did Patrick Cunnigham ever pack his boat up?
Did Richard Westbury find his way home from the Fish Market after being rudely awoken in the gutter by the local police?
How did Peter Barton get two results on the last day having been ill on the shore?
Did the British show the Italians the meaning of Shambles?

Overall Results

1st Chris Rashley GBR
2nd Mike Lennon GBR
3rd Jason Belben  GBR
4th Ben Paton GBR
5th Tom Offer GBR
6th Pablo Arandia ESP

Overall results here

See http://www.moth.it/european2013/gallery-and-videos/ for pictures.

In Moth circles Parkstone is famed for challenging sailor’s ability in landing and leaving, small entrances to the Marina and a sand (mud) bank between the flat waters of Poole harbour and the safety of the slip way make for some tricky moves to get out and back. Combine this with a weather forecast that gave little hope for any racing led to a small but very keen group of sailors rigging up on Saturday morning. Unfortunately there is no such thing as a negative postponement as the morning looked to be the best opportunity for any racing. Undeterred the race officer declared he would start on time and get the races in as quick as possible.

A steady 18 knots with gusts in to the mid 20’s tested most sailors in race one led by Simon Hiscocks until the last lap when Chris Rashley took advantage of Hiscocks being blown over upwind. Jason Belben followed through to take third place. Elsewhere carnage ensued with many boats being derigged on the water and towed home.

Race two saw some uncharacteristic swimming from Rashley whilst Hiscocks and Belben fought it out at the front, places swapping leg by leg. By the end it was Belben with some skilled top mark rounding’s who took the win from Hiscocks and Tom ‘Facebookless’ Offer pushing Rashley back in to 4th.

Gusts of over 29 knots were hitting the fleet at the start of race three, just Rashley and Belben were actually sailing at the start with the remainder of the fleet being Hiscocks and Offer getting started a short while later. Belben started on port and across to the right where there had been more pressure only to find he could not keep his boat in the water. By the top mark Rashley was ahead but Hiscocks had passed Belben until a capsize tacking put him out of the picture. Wisely the race was shortened to one lap. Rashley took the win followed by Belben, Hiscocks and Offer taking 4th.

With Sunday forecast to be even windier and most of the fleet packing to head to Sicily for the Europeans it was wisely decided to cancel Sunday’s racing program. That left Rashley taking the win after a tie break with Belben both on 6 points with Hiscocks a point behind on 7.

The weather has certainly played its part in the UK Grand Prix, Queen Mary was just cold, Parkstone just windy – next up Bala, followed by Stokes Bay in June which is likely to be just perfect, at least that is how Rashley describes it. He does however promise a warm welcome and a Saturday social.

If Stokes bay can be just perfect then just two weeks later the fleet head to Moth nirvana for the Nationals at Castle Cove in Weymouth. In the meantime The Europeans will give a good clue to who is on the pace internationally.

Report by Simon Hiscocks, Photo Dylan Fletcher

These days the class is growing at such a fast pace. We are fortunate to have two UK based Moth manufacturers who are hard at work innovating and  competing against each other as well as the manufacturers abroad. The only real winner is the moth fleet as the reliability and quality of the build and the boats continue to rise to an all time high. This means that there is also a fantastic second hand market which has endless quality boats coming up for sail along with second hand sails and kit being sold very competitively which is great news in the current credit crunch. It’s also worth noting that the Mach 2 moth design is now 4 years old and still features the top runners in the moth fleet something not many development classes can say.

This will be the last event before the fleet heads out to Sicily for the Europeans which starts at the end of April, it will be the last chance to test out new boats and rigs before the Euros so could well see a fleet size in the forties.

There has never been a better time to get into the fleet with numbers increasing impressively year on year. With sailors ranging from Olympians to weekend warriors there is great camaraderie and help available to all, with fun competitive and close racing the norm. The class is going from strength to strength and with the World Championships in the UK next year, shouldn’t you be joining in the fun?

See you all on the water
The UK Moth Class Committee

Please find S.I and N.O.R.

The first International  Moth Class Association training session of the year happened this weekend – the first in a series of events, some formal some informal which have been put together to help new and intermediate moth sailors to de-mystify their flying machines and be comfortable in a racing situation.   Sailors ranged from the their teens to their 50’s, from  only 60 kilos to over 85! Although all boats were foilers, some were bought for a couple of thousand, some were full-on latest generation 25+ knot machines.

13 moths ventured to Queen Mary reservoir to an initial 25 knots and 4 degrees, with a relatively inexperienced group of moth sailors sailing for one of the first times this year it was unanimously decided that the weekend should begin with some classroom sessions, cover the fundamentals of the foil and wand setup and gybing technique. By 12:00 the wind had eased enough for everyone to get on the water and sail a windward-leeward course in the gusty conditions.  A rib manned by Olivier Vidal and James Phare was on hand to offer advice to all the sailors whether they were hoping to achieve their first foiling gybe or looking for some fine tuning tips.  James jumped into lots of boats to try and diagnose set-up problems and allow owners to see their boats flying from the outside.

Sunday saw lighter winds, and around 20 moths took to the water to complete a few practice races, focusing on tacking and gybing as much as possible on each leg. Andrew Friend on the rib captured footage of each boat and a debriefing was given over lunch with plenty of pointers about technique and boat set-up.
The fleet then temporarily re-launched after lunch with the intention of completing more practice races but the wind completely died leaving everybody to flounder around in the rain. Such is the glamour of moth sailing in March!
Despite the wide variety in age, weight and mothing experience the entire fleet got stuck into some good sailing over the weekend and were able to pick up priceless top tips on how to improve technique and boat setup in order to progress quickly up the learning curve. Bring on next weekend where it can hopefully be put into practice!
Many thanks to Olivier Vidal, James Phare and Andrew Friend for running the event and Queen Mary SC for putting it on.

Next, the Moths moved on to the Christmas Cracker at Hayling Island but due to very high winds it had to be cancelled but in true sprit of being a Mothie (it’s never over till it over) the committee decided to include the Hayling Island Perisher.

The Moths then moved over to London for the Bloody Mary and the Moths took the top three places.

Next was time to head back up the country to Rutland for the Tiger Trophy the first day was 3 races average lap which saw gusts of 30 knots screaming across the lake and  with a wind chill of -2c all the Moths that took part in this event were already winners.  The one thing that did amaze many sailors in the fleet was that a moth can now be sailed hard for 3 races in 30 knot gusts and not break, a real credit to all Moth design and the way they have leaped forward in the last few years.

The Championship headed back south to Hayling island for the Perisher once again the wind gods did not play ball at Hayling island so no Moths entered due to light winds . There is now only one round left in this years Winter Championship which is the Steve Nicholson held at Northampton .

Continuing Stokes Bay Sailing Club’s Friday evening talk ‘n’ social events, Jason Belben will be hosting The Ups and Downs of Moth Sailing on March 8th at 7pm.

If you’ve ever wondered if flying a Moth is for you, or are just interested in how foiling works, come along for an evening in good company and learn all you need to know about Mothing. Jason will be covering:
- the evolution of Mothing
- how Moths fly
- future advances in foiling
- plus an on-board experience giving you a real foiling feel from the comfort of the bar.

Entry is free although places are limited, so please contact us in advance to book your seat. The bar will be open all evening and you can buy a ticket for dinner (chilli or a vegetarian option) for just £4.50 when you book your place. Please contact Debbie Wood, SBSC Administrator on 023 9258 1513 or email administrator@stokesbay-sc.co.uk

We look forward to welcoming you to Stokes Bay.

A bit about Mothing at Stokes Bay.

Stokes Bay Sailing Club is a south coast mecca for Moth sailors. With a fleet including current National and European Champion Chris Rashley, 2011 National Champion Jason Belben and Bloody Mary 2013 Champion Rob Greenhalgh, the front end of our fleet is of an undeniably high calibre.

But we’re not just about the boys at the front. We have a thriving fleet of all standards including two ladies, an over 55 year old, some young guns and some just-lured-out-of-the-Musto-Skiff-fleet sailors.

With an enviable location where you can sail at all states of the tide, every day, all year round, Stokes Bay represents simply the best in sailing and social for Moth sailors, other dinghy and catamaran sailors, and their families.

Whatever you sail, come and enjoy a warm welcome at any time. And if you’re bringing a Moth, we look forward to taking off with you.

The Five intrepid Mothies from opposite corners of England that ‘rocked up to Rutland’ were treated to stunning winter sunshine to reward their combined efforts in ignoring the forecasted freezing temperatures and 30Knt plus Northerly winds to promote the Moth class in the 200 strong fleet at the annual 2-day Tiger Trophy event.

Following the recognised ’Mothwash’ of the 40th Bloody Mary race a few weeks earlier, this should have been the final round of the Sailjuice.com winter series and also a championship decider for our very own Winter series; but with the Hayling Christmas cracker cancelled and the Steve Nicholson postponed until the 23rd Feb, everything was still to play for and the event promised an open and ideal opportunity to shake off those winter blues, shed a few Kilos and set some records in the process.

The Midday start on Saturday allowed the sheltered but stiff on-shore breeze to build into the 20Knt range that saw only Gareth Davies and Richard Westbury launch, leaving Mike Cooke to tinker with his innovative new Rocket design and Tom Lambert/Jamie Pearson (the ‘Yoof’ of Draycote) drinking tea in the club. The exciting fetch into the more exposed Easterly waters of the start line nearest the Dam offered a challenging prospect in navigating cleanly through choppy and confused fleet race starts.  After an exciting 28knt blast around and a few unforced pitch-poles, just as confidence was building and heart rate settling the 30Knot gusts claimed their first victim with Richard Westbury losing his bias adjuster to Neptune and forced to low-ride his submarine home leaving only Gareth Davies to take on the brutal & shifty full on/off challenge.

Race 1 saw Gareth lead the fast fleet around for 40 minutes, finishing 83rd on a corrected 555 handicap; Race 2 saw Mike Cooke launch into the battle but retire before the start with frostbite of the fingers which left only Gareth improving to 64th overall. Race 3 witnessed the arrival of Tom Lambert and the return sight of Richard Westbury in his repaired boat to the race course. At last an opportunity for some Mothing competition, but with Westbury slow to wake up to the conditions and Lambert breaking his newly modified pushrod, Gareth finished a respectable 33rd and Westbury in 96th. After thawing out from the sub zero temperatures and whilst sampling the event sponsors ‘Tiger Ale’, Saturday evening saw the intrepid Mothies head off into the local market town of Stamford for a warm & hearty Curry evening washed down, this time, with Indian ‘Tiger’ lager (apart from the ‘Yoof’ who wisely drank only orange juice and coca-cola’s)!

Early Sunday morning dawned with a welcome 90-degree wind-shift to the West, bringing with it warmer temperatures and lighter winds offering a promising ‘Mothwash’ opportunity for the pursuit race. However, early enthusiasm was soon crushed by 10am as the skies blackened and the wind increased again into the upper 20-Knts range, seeing only Gareth Davies and Richard Westbury prepare and rig early for the Midday start. Then, suddenly at 11.45 am, just as Gareth and Richard were launching, the wind speed started to drop. Mike Cooke was quick to notice the change and, with the help of Tom and Jamie, managed to rig and get afloat for the start. But with the slower fleets already lapping through the very short start line, confusion meant the Moth’s started 3 minutes late with Rich Westbury being forced out committee-boat-end by a Rib. Mike Cooke ended up low-riding at the windward mark and  Gareth and Richard caught some pressure and foiled away past the club house. Short-lived frustration was soon replaced by some exciting flat-water foiling as the three carved their way through the fleet, Mike Cook revelling in the light and shifty conditions showing that this Rocket has potential to finish 44th overall, leaving Gareth chasing hard to a DNF and Richard suffering a ‘Jason Belben’ moment protested by a rib driver and forced to retire for missing a Mark out.

The weekend didn’t produce the results we expected. However, with Gareth’s impressive display on Saturday it was great to hear the dinghy park buzzing from widespread Mothing admiration and above all, we enjoyed carving through the fleets immensely with the only losers being those not Mothing!

Final Moth Fleet Results:
1 – Gareth Davies (Stone SC) 1,1,1,DNF
2 – Mike Cooke (NFB SC) , DNC,DNC,DNC, 1
3 – Richard Westbury (Bartley SC) DNC, DNC, 2, DNF
4 – Tom Lambert (Draycote SC) DNC, DNC, DNC, DNC
5 -  Jamie Pearson (Draycote SC) DNC, DNC, DNC, DNC

NB: Don’t miss out on the final 2 winter event at the Hayling island Perisher on the 16th Febuary and the Steve Nicholson Race at Northampton SC on 23rd February 2013, limited entries are open again Tuesday 5th Feb,  last chance to man up, we know who you are?

14 intrepid Mothies ventured to Queen Mary Sailing Club’s gruelling ‘Bloody Mary’ dinghy pursuit race on the 12th January making the Moths the 6th largest fleet (and the largest high performance fleet). With 340 starters in total providing more ‘traffic’ than the nearby M25 it is the largest dinghy race in the UK and an annual classic. The forecast warned of the possibility of freezing easterlies of up to 27kn and possible sleet but the reality proved to be more amiable temperatures and an ideal 14-16kn with some pokey gusts mixed in.

After last year’s Mothwash where our daring pilots took the top 4 slots the handicappers attempted to bang us to rights with a whopping 6 minute delay to our start time, giving us 64 minutes to catch the fleet rather than the 70 minutes that we had in 2012. The knock on effect of this is that whilst last year maybe 50 boats had done a lap before we started this year that number was more like 80. That means the Moths didn’t have just 330 boats to overtake but more like 410. Even after accounting for some retirees that is still a boat every 10 seconds – sustained for over an hour!

We had less than 6 minutes in hand last year and I thought this would be enough to scupper our chances. Therefore my aim was to have enjoy the class race and to see how far we could get up the fleet, rather than hoping to get to the front. As it turned out conditions were very similarly ideal to lastyear; windy but not too windy, lots of reaching around the lake and flat water. We were also assisted by the breeze piping up a little in the later half of the race whilst we were on the course.

Jason Belben led the MothCharge with Rob Greenhalgh in hot pursuit. The next group of Simon Hiscocks, Peter Barton and Andrew Friend had some great close racing and place changing for most of the race. After a whirlwind hour the Moths had cut through the traffic to hit the front. Jason took line honours but was later found to have missed a mark leaving Rob the victor, demonstrating what is possible after a dedicated 6 months in the class. Andrew Friend kept it tidy to take 2nd overall with Peter in 3rd overall. Not quite managing to untangle themselves from the melee of low riders wereSimon in 13th and Richard Westbury in 25th.  (NB: on last year’s handicap Simon and Richard would have likely hit the front, c’est la vie!)

There have been no ground breaking innovations to Moth equipment and set up in the last year and any speed gain over the year is down to refinement of equipment, setup and technique. Some of the country’s best dinghy sailors are in the Moth class and putting in an incredible amount of dedication to perfecting their aeronautics so it is fair for the class to have a chance of winning when the conditions are ideal – which they were. The UK dinghy scene is unlikely to ever become bored of Moths dominating these events as those ideal conditions happen too infrequently. Hopefully, when we do turn up and perform we add value, inspiring others with our intriguing craft, enthusiasm and passion for our sport.

1st​3979 ​Robert Greenhalgh ​Stokes Bay SC / Hamble River SC
2nd​3892​Andrew Friend​QMSC / Norfolk Punt Club
3rd​3795​Peter Barton​Royal Lymington YC
13th​1​Simon Hiscocks​WPNSA / HISC
25th​3944​Richard Westbury​Bartley SC
33rd​3335​Edward Redfearn​Brightlingsea SC
44th​3614​Doug Pybus​QMSC
118th​3870​Ollie Holden​HISC
119th​3766​Alex Koukourakis​Eastbourne Sovereign SC
182nd​3674​Neil Baker​QMSC
251st​3711​Dan Ward​Frensham Pond SC
DNF​3327​Ben Clegg​Brightlingsea SC
DNF​3849​Leigh Albrecht​QMSC
DSQ​3942​Jason Belben​Stokes Bay SC