Lennon Rides to Victory
19 foiling Moths descended upon Hayling Island for the 10th year of the Tide Ride, and following a misty start, the sun shone through gracing the fleet with a mild 10-15 knot easterly and classic Hayling conditions.
With the fleet sailing a windward-leeward course on the Pilsey bank side of the harbour, the race officer packed in five hectic quick fire races on the Saturday. Local hero Mike Lennon (Hyde Sails) showed great early pace, and quickly began to stamp his authority on the day with some effortless boat handling, securing two firsts and three seconds. World Champion, Simon Payne (Abarth) responded by nailing two good firsts, and a third, but had to contend with an OCS and a retirement in his scoreline. This left Mike Cooke (Aardvark Technologies) lying in second overall, taking the second race along with a second and three third places. However, the top three didn’t have things all their own way, with Richie Lovering (Hyde Sails) challenging really hard with good boat speed, and Jason Russell (Tere) and Tom Offer both getting right in the mix.
Sunday dawned with a 15-18 knot breeze blowing, and a frenetic reaching slalom course was set, that called for four gybes down to the leeward mark of the course. This, combined with a swell over the sandbar, and a stack of lumbering cruiser traffic in the harbour, resulted in an unpredictable sea state, and the risk of some spectacular wipeouts being on the cards for some of the fleet! The testing conditions saw a number of ‘over the handlebars’ moments and retirements, but Lennon continued his winning ways taking all four races, as well as the final double points race. Cooke gave him a run for his money at times, but took too long mastering the conditions to mount a credible challenge. Simon Payne unfortunately dropped out of the racing following a collision and personal injury, leaving third spot up for grabs, with Geoff Carveth pulling it out of the bag, yet with Geoff, Jon Peats and Jonnie Hutchcroft all finishing within four points of each other following a solid day of results by each.
The participation and spectacle of the Moth fleet at the Tide Ride has risen greatly in recent years, and the Class would like to thank HISC for continuing to run this innovative and exciting event, and we look forward to hearing of a new sponsor coming forward to help push the event on for another 10 years.
1st Mike Lennon GBR 8 – Mach 2, Hyde sail
2nd Mike Cooke GBR 3760 – Ninja, Hyde sail
3rd Geoff Carveth GBR 3386 – Mach 2, Hyde sail
4th Jon Peats GBR 3730 – Mach 2, KA sail
5th Jonnie Hutchcroft GBR 3376 – Velociraptor, KA sail
Full results can be seen here
All photos can be seen here
All photos are credited to Chris Bashall