This bank holiday saw the rescheduled Thorpe Bay Regatta at Southend and on Saturday you would have thought that the regatta was jinxed to have bad weather.

Saturday saw a nice 8 to 10 knots of breeze which got the Moth fleet excited, rigged and ready to go with no sign of the monsoon weather that was forecast, however the race officer postponed the racing due to lack of wind for 30 minutes. At this point the club served up teas and coffees (because that’s how friendly we are in Essex) but the heavens opened and killed of any chance of racing as a few large storm clouds came over a light breeze came through which saw Kyle Stoneham and Gareth Davies hit the water but after a few brief moments on the foils the wind dropped again and the newly formed East Coast Moth Team headed for the shore.

Sunday dawned with a brisk 16 knots blowing from the north east causing a large chop on the race track but with the worlds being held at Hayling Island, wave practise is just what the doctor ordered.

Race one got away clean, although Davies was pushing his luck a little and had to duck the line to stay the right side causing him to fall of his foils. Dan Clark was best placed on the start but with 10 second to go took a swim. Davies went hard left on the race track trying to find flatter water this seemed to work as he rounded first, followed by the chasing pack of Kyle, Miles and Chris and with the short chop any thing could happen. Davies held on to his lead till the finish with Kyle 2nd and new comer to the class Chris Clarke 3rd in front of Miles Barrage.

Race 2 saw a familiar patten with the sea state still a little fruity to say the least.

Race 3 saw the conditions start to take its toll Kyle ripping a tramp and heading home for an early bath and then Chris following him in but for Chris to complete 2 races after only having the boat for 2 months in these conditions made him the real winner of the day. This left Miles and Gareth to race it out in the last race with Davies again taking the win with Miles a close second.

Monday, the wind was still from the north east but had dropped to 14 knots this made for a fantastic race track with a bit of chop to keep you on your toes but flatter than Sunday upwind.

Two races were scheduled for the day, race 1 got away clean and was started with the A class Cats on the first cross up wind the A class cat DNA was ahead of Davies but by the windward mark Davies had a 50 meter lead over the Cats and Kyle and Danny Clarke in their moths. Davies extended his lead with Kyle and Danny in close quarters but on the last lap Kyle broke his mainsheet block on the last lap to the line allowing Danny to get past and take 2nd, Kyle took 3rd, Miles 4th and Chris 5th.

The final race and Chris Clarke and Gareth Davies led the charge to the line but the race officer flagged them both as being over so they had to round the ends. This forced both of them to the wrong side of the course which meant coming into the windward mark Miles was in the lead only to stuff up his tack in front of Davies who then went on to round first. Danny Clarke had a bad start but by lap 2 had climbed up to 2nd and was hunting Davies down. Danny using his local knowledge went hard left on the second beat and got within touching distances of Davies down wind, Davies got away and did not make the same mistake again although one bad tack or gybe would have seen Danny passed unfortunately this didn’t happen and Davies won again, Danny 2nd and Miles 3rd and Chris 4th, Kyle broke another tramp and had to retire to the shore.

A great event was had by all, including the race committee who did a great job turning all 4 fleets around so quickly.

The newly formed East Coast moth team will be out again this weekend practising on a short course with 9 mothies expected to be out this weekend practising before the Stone open the following weekend 14th and 15th September which will be the last in the UK Grand Prix circuit before the winter series starts.

Monohull Windward / Leeward Results:

Pos	Sail No	Boat Name	Boat Type	Helm	Club	PY	R4	R5	R6	R7	R8	Pts
1	3941	Faith and Fear	International Moth	Gareth Davies	Stone Sailing Club	600	1	1	2	1	1	6
2	228	Gerber	Musto Skiff	Ronnie Barnes	TBYC	860	2	2	1	2	2	9
3	3432		International Moth	Kyle Stoneham	TBYC	600	3	3	DNF	4	DNF	20
4	3312		International Moth	Miles Burrage	TBYC	600	5	5	3	5	4	22
5	3327		International Moth	Chris Clarke	TBYC	600	4	4	DNC	6	5	26
6	3922		International Moth	Danny Clarke	TBYC	600	DNC	DNC	DNC	3	3	27