Noble Marine International Moth GP at the Weymouth & Portland National Sailing Academy

by David Hivey 22 May 11:57 BST 18-19 May 2024

Under postponement in the WPNSA dinghy park © Kyle Stoneham

The weekend's Noble Marine Moth GP faced a dire forecast, yet 19 dedicated sailors ignored it and were rewarded with eight tricky but exhilarating races over the two days. The competition was intense, with the top six sailors each having their moments of glory, sharing the podiums almost evenly throughout the event.

Kyle "I Hate U Flags" Stoneham had a strong showing but was ultimately let down by being a little premature... Alex "Not Too Fast, Not Too Slow" Adams was a consistent presence, sailing cleverly to remain in contention in every race. Mike "I have learnt how to tack" Lennon showed no sign of last year's gremlins to perform well all weekend. Simon "First to last" Hiscocks suffered a significant setback in race 3 when he sailed into a hole, dropping from the lead to nearly last place. David "Whoops they started" Hivey faced a major challenge when he got stuck at the windward mark in race 3, causing him to miss race 4 entirely.

The event was ultimately won by Jason "Never stop foiling" Belben, whose consistency and outstanding boat handling gave him the edge he needed to secure the victory.

Behind the top 6, the rest of the fleet saw frequent position changes, with everyone having their own moments of triumph. The conditions keeping everyone on their toes, but we couldn't have expected such good racing with the forecast and it illustrated why you should always go to events regardless.

Huge thanks goes to the team at the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy (WPNSA) for their excellent management of the event. Turning up really early on the Sunday to get us out sailing. Particular thanks to PRO David "Not this at Weymouth again" Campbell James. Moth racing is not easy to run in light winds.

Remember that there are still free Nationals Entries for the first exocet and Mach 2 in the GP series up for grabs, sponsored by Noble Marine. Exocet results are close for the past few events and will be decided at Grafham. The Mach 2 prize is very much up for the taking with Simon Goodwin leading the charge.

Overall Results:

Pos	Sail No	Helm	Club	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	R8	Pts
1	4990	Jason Belben		4	‑5	1	3	1	4	1	5	19
2	4946	Mike Lennon	Hayling Island SC	3	2	2	2	‑6	5	5	4	23
3	4968	David Hivey		1	3	8	(DNC [22])	4	3	4	1	24
4	5010	Kyle Stoneham		2	(UFD [22])	11	4	3	1	3	3	27
5	4906	Alex Adams		5	4	3	‑6	2	2	6	6	28
6	4772	Simon Hiscocks		7	1	‑14	1	10	6	2	2	29
7	5011	Joe Adams		6	7	6	7	7	(UFD [22])	9	8	50
8	4837	Doug Pybus		‑10	8	10	8	5	9	10	10	60
9	4485	Daniel Holman		(DNC [22])	UFD [22]	5	5	9	7	8	7	63
10	496	Matthew Lea		8	6	4	(DNF [22])	8	10	DNC [22]	DNC [22]	80
11	4938	Gareth Davies		9	(DNC [22])	12	DNC [22]	14	8	7	9	81
12	4589	Adam Golding	Hayling Island SC	11	9	13	(DNF [22])	17	12	11	11	84
13	4385	John Evans	Grafham Water S.C	13	11	‑17	10	15	13	15	14	91
14	4758	Eddie Gatehouse		12	(DNC [22])	16	11	13	DNC [22]	14	12	100
15	5000	Graham Bridle		(DNC [22])	10	15	DNC [22]	16	14	13	13	103
16	4	James Sainsbury		(DNC [22])	DNC [22]	7	DNC [22]	11	11	12	DNC [22]	107
17	490	Philip Rees		(DNC [22])	DNC [22]	9	9	12	DNC [22]	RET [22]	DNC [22]	118
18	4951	James Phare		14	(DNC [22])	DNC [22]	DNC [22]	DNC [22]	DNC [22]	DNC [22]	DNC [22]	146
19	4826	Steve Mclean		(DNC [22])	DNC [22]	DNC [22]	DNC [22]	DNC [22]	DNC [22]	DNC [22]	DNC [22]	154
19	4905	Jeremy Hartley	Stokes Bay SC	(DNC [22])	DNC [22]	DNC [22]	DNC [22]	DNC [22]	DNC [22]	DNC [22]	DNC [22]	154
19	4779	Orkum Soyer		(DNC [22])	DNC [22]	DNC [22]	DNC [22]	DNC [22]	DNC [22]	DNC [22]	DNC [22]	154