We thought it would go down to the wire, and that's exactly what happened at the Moth UK National Championships. The final race decided the title with four sailors still in with a shout of winning the event writes Mark Jardine of Yachts and Yachting.

Royal Cork's David Kenefick who had been only three points off second overall missed the podium – but only on countback – after a tough final day to finish fourth overall at Thorpe Bay.

The weather on Saturday was stunning, with early sunshine leading to a good sea breeze. The later high water allowed enough time for four races to be held, leading to the full series of twelve races being completed.

There was drama just before the start when Kyle Stoneham, who has put so much time into organising this event, found a mouse in his wing bar while heading out onto the race course. He, of course, went back to shore to drop it off on land, but hit the slipway with his centreboard foil, leading to some quick sanding time to get it smooth enough to sail with.

A quick recap of the positions going into the final day; Jason Belben was leading by nine points, but Jim McMillan, Dave Kenefick and Simon Hiscocks were on the charge in the stronger winds.

The man who was closest to Belben going into the final race was Jim McMillan, and his final day charge 1,2,8,3 results giving him enough to win the overall title by four points. Jim was understandably ecstatic to overturn the nine-point deficit: "I'm absolutely stoked! This is the first Moth event where I didn't have to count Did Not Starts and Did Not Competes. I came here to have some fun and hopefully finish in the top ten, so to take the win I'm stoked. It's been fantastic for the last two days - perfect Moth sailing conditions with flat water, the sun out and everyone enjoying themselves, non-stop foiling around; it's perfect." 

Overall top five:

1. Jim McMillan, 32 points
2. Jason Belben, 36
3. Simon Hiscocks, 38
4. Dave Kenelick, 38
5. Ross Harvey, 53

Royal Cork Yacht Club's Dave Kenefick lies an impressive third overall – and a single point off second place – at the 40–boat UK Moth National Championships. 

Counting a string of top ten results in a fleet packed with top British dinghy sailors, Kenefick scored two second places on Friday, which means the Cork Harbour sailor is eyeing a podium finish at Thorpe Bay Yacht Club. 

Conditions so far have been perfect for foiling Moth sailing, with 12 knots of breeze and flat water. 

Howth Yacht Club's Alistair Kissane is 19th and the National Yacht Club's Neil O'Toole is 25th.

More on this from Mark Jardine in Yachts and Yachting.

Results after Day 3:

Pos Sail No Helm R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 R7 R8 Pts
1 4509 Jason Belben 2 3 1 1 2 -7 3 5 17
2 4533 Jim McMillan 4 1 5 6 4 2 4 -11 26
3 4148 Dave Kenefick 1 -9 2 7 8 5 2 2 27
4 4409 Ross Harvey 8 2 4 3 6 11 -12 1 35
5 4386 Simon Hiscox 13 4 8 11 -14 1 1 3 41
6 4501 Dan Ellis 11 5 6 -13 9 4 5 7 47
7 4525 Ben Clegg 5 7 3 2 15 9 (DSQ) 9 50
8 4584 Mike Lennon 3 11 10 9 -20 8 9 4 54
9 3980 Alex Adams -16 10 11 8 3 10 10 13 65
10 4149 Eddie Bridle 12 12 9 -18 11 14 6 6 70
11 4534 Jason Russell -18 8 17 4 5 15 17 15 81
12 4442 Kyle Stoneham -21 15 12 16 1 16 11 17 88
13 4542 David Hivey 17 17 28 10 (DNC) 6 8 8 94
14 4541 Jeremy Hartley 14 16 15 5 10 17 24 -26 101
15 4492 Nic Streatfeild 7 18 20 12 16 13 -21 16 102
16 4548 Tom Offer (DNC) DNC 7 15 21 3 7 10 104
17 4544 Mathew Lea 10 21 13 22 17 -26 15 14 112
18 3799 Max Stelzl 22 -25 16 17 7 21 20 18 121
19 43 Alistair Kissane 15 13 -29 20 13 24 25 12 122
20 4136 Ed Redfearn 6 14 14 14 22 33 (DNC) DNC 144
21 4104 George Boussoulas 23 22 24 -29 24 20 18 24 155
22 4101 Andrew Sim 27 19 19 21 23 -30 28 22 159
23 4208 Tom Lambert 24 20 18 -27 25 25 23 25 160
24 4390 Cian Byrne (DNC) DNC DNC 19 18 12 13 20 164
25 4139 Neil O'Toole 20 23 23 -30 29 28 22 29 174
26 8 Dan Ward 9 6 (DNC) 25 12 DNC DNC DNC 175
27 4484 David Jassop 28 24 22 31 (DNC) 29 19 23 176
28 4328 Alex Ringstadt 25 28 21 33 19 18 (OCS) BFD 182
29 3989 Hiroki Goto (DNC) DNC DNC 23 26 19 14 19 183
30 4036 Chris Clarke 19 27 31 (DNC) 30 23 26 27 183
31 4554 David Smithwhite 26 35 (DNC) 24 DNC 22 16 21 185
32 3169 Brad Gibson 29 26 27 26 27 -31 29 28 192
33 3870 Eddie Gatehouse 31 32 25 28 31 -34 30 31 208
34 4479 Adrian Coatsworth 32 30 26 34 33 -38 35 34 224
35 3995 Charlie Coulborn 30 31 33 32 34 -35 34 32 226
36 4033 Adam Golding (DNC) DNC DNC DNC 28 27 27 30 235
37 3629 Thomas Mehew 33 33 32 (DNC) DNC 32 31 33 235
38 4241 Ian Keely 34 34 34 (DNC) DNC 36 33 36 248
39 3948 Neil Cooney (DNC) DNC DNC DNC 32 37 32 35 259
40 4096 Mark Dicker (DNC) 29 30 DNC DNC DNC DNC DNC 264

Just two points off the top ten overall, Royal Cork Yacht Club's David Kenefick has posted Ireland's best Moth World Championships result to date, an 11th overall in Bermuda. 

Dubliner Rory Fitzpatrick was 29th in the 41–boat fleet having suffered both a DNF and a DNC in a six race series that saw many competitors suffer gear damage in the early races sailed in strong winds.

Kenefick was also Ireland's top performer last year when the Cork Harbour ace finished 31st on Lake Garda in 2017 in a massive 80–boat fleet. 

For the third year in a row Paul Goodison of the U.K. has won the world championship of the International Moth Class Association. Goodison, 40, achieved the feat when the final day of racing at the  was canceled due to lack of wind.

Goodison previously won the Moth Worlds in Japan in 2016 and last year in Italy. He became the second skipper in the 77-year history of the regatta to win three consecutive titles, matching fellow British sailor David Izatt from 1979 to 1981.

“Last year’s win was very, very special because it came straight after the Americas Cup and it was against all the guys I’d been working with and sailing against,” said Goodison, who was a member of Artemis Racing during the 2017 America’s Cup in Bermuda.

“This one feels amazing as well since it’s in Bermuda where I spent so much time practicing for the last Cup,” Goodison continued. “We had some amazing conditions this week. Unfortunately, they weren’t the best conditions the last few days with the light winds, but this championship feels very special because it is the third in a row.”

Along with the three Moth world championships Goodison has also won an Olympic Gold medal in 2008 in the Laser class and the Laser World Championship in 2009.

The weather at this regatta frustrated everyone from competitors to observers. The conditions started as fresh-to-frightening with winds of 20 to 25 knots. By the end of the week the weather pendulum swung to fair-to-fine as warm temperatures and sunny skies were abundant but not the breeze. Goodison played through it all.

“We all came here knowing some days would be bad and some days worse. For me the finest day was the first day of the Bermuda Nationals,” said Goodison in reference to racing on March 23. “The first day of the worlds was very challenging, very windy. The next day we had four races in perfect Moth sailing weather. It’s been frustrating not to do more racing, but the racing we’ve done has been excellent.”

Paul Goodison (bow 01), Francesco Bruni (bow 04) and Victor Diaz de Leon (bow 43) work off the start line in a light-air race on the final day of the Bacardi Moth World Championship. The race would later be abandoned when the wind died away (©Martina Orsini photo).
Francesco Bruni of Italy, a teammate of Goodison’s with Artemis Racing, placed second overall and Rome Kirby of the U.S., who sailed with Oracle Team USA last year in the America’s Cup, finished third.

“It’s just a dream to finish second,” said Bruni, who’ll turn 45 on April 10. “The thing that stands out most for me is we did six races in very strong wind. I was expecting to have to defend in those conditions and attack in the lighter winds. To finish second with four third-place finishes in the second day of racing is a huge achievement and very, very good for my spirit.”

For Kirby, third-place was a just result. “I was just trying to keep the boat together on that breezy first day,” said the 28-year-old. “I just wanted to stay consistent. My finishes were all second through seventh, so I had good consistency. It’s unfortunate we didn’t have more racing, but I’ll take third place.”

Andreas John won the Masters’ Division. The 57-year-old skipper from Blankeneser Segelclub on the Elbe River in Blankenese, Germany, finished 24th overall with 111 points. Among the six Masters’ entrants he finished with the low score of 7 points, good for a 4-point advantage over fellow German Kai Adolph.

Bermudian Benn Smith won the Youth Division. Representing the host Royal Bermuda Yacht Club, the 18-year-old Smith finished 31st overall with 151 points. As the lone entrant in the Youth Division he finished with 4 points.

“It’s cool, it’s special,” Smith said of his achievement. “I sail the Laser a lot and you see the top guys in the Moth have sailed the Laser. Bruni was in the Laser and Goodison won a gold medal. They’ve taken to the Moth really easily and I’d like to be like them someday.”

The 78th Moth World Championship is scheduled Nov. 19-29, 2018 and will be hosted by Mounts Bay Sailing Club on the Swan River in Perth, Western Australia. 

BACARDI MOTH WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP BERMUDA FINAL STANDINGS
(After 6 races, with one discard)
1. Paul Goodison (GBR) 1-1-(DNC-45)-1-2-1 – 6 points
2. Francesco Bruni (ITA) (13)-7-3-3-3-3 – 19
3. Rome Kirby (USA) (7)-2-6-5-5-5 – 23
4. Brad Funk (USA) 3-3-(7)-7-6-6 – 25
5. Victor Diaz de Leon (USA) 4-6-5-8-9-(10) – 32
6. Ted Hackney (AUS) 14-(15)-2-6-11-2 – 35
7. Benoit Marie (FRA) 8-4-9-10-8-(11) – 39
8. Dan Ward (GBR) 6-5-(12)-11-12-9 – 43
9. Ben Paton (GBR) (45-DNF)-24-8-9-4-7 – 52
10. Iain Jensen (AUS) 5-(45-DNC)-1-2-1-45 DNF – 54
Go to Final Standings here

Royal Cork foiling helmsman David Kenefick is knocking on the door of the top ten overall at the Bacardi Moth World Championship this week after an exhilarating three days of strong winds in Bermuda.

11th place Kenefick, who was Ireland's top performer at last year's World Championships on Lake Garda, is just two points off tenth overall after six races sailed and one discard.

Dubliner Rory Fitzpatrick is 29th in the 41–boat fleet. Overall results are here

UPDATE: April 1: Day 4 and 5 racing at the Moth World Championship Bermuda has been postponed due to light winds.

Paul Goodison of the U.K., Francesco Bruni of Italy and Rome Kirby of the U.S. hold first, second and third, respectively, 

Yesterday’s conditions were far more manageable than yesterday’s blow out. But even though the northwesterly blew at a more manageable strength of 12-to-18 knots many competitors still suffered breakdowns that had them scrambling.

Goodison’s forestay broke during tune-up which forced him to miss the first race of the day. Kirby discovered a crack in his main vertical foil just before docking out. And Iain Jensen of Australia was forced to retire from Race 6, the fourth of the day, when his mainsheet broke.

“The mainsheet broke just below the splice,” said Jensen, who finished 1-2-1 in the first three races of the day. “The worst part is that I now have two discards in my scoreline, both due to rigging failures.” Jensen holds 10th overall with 54 points.

Iain Jensen's hair is blown back as he works upwind during Day 3 of the Bacardi Moth World Championship (©Martina Orsini photo).
Goodison, the reigning two-time Moth world champion, leads overall with 6 points. He gave credit to Brett Moss (Brad Funk’s coach) and his girlfriend, Giulia Elba Masotto, as well as the Maguire Boats shore team for helping fix his problem expediently.

“The forestay broke at the terminal halfway up the first tuning leg,” said Goodison. “It caused quite a bit of damage with the rig falling down and the boom getting tangled up in the fairings. Luckily, Brett and Giulia helped tow me back to shore and the Maguire Boats shore team helped get the rig out and a rope forestay in place.”

Goodison made it to the racecourse for the day’s second race, which he won, but his rigging problems persisted.

“The rope forestay kept stretching so in between Race 4 and 5 I had to go capsize the boat to try and tighten it and I missed the start of Race 5,” said Goodison.

Goodison estimates he started Race 5 30 to 40 seconds late and even though he wasn’t at 100 percent performance he kept gaining on Jensen throughout the race. The two blazed down the run to the finish line, with Goodison making big gains by sailing lower and faster. Jensen won the race, but only by one boatlength in the closest finish of the regatta to date.

“It was quite an entertaining day,” said Goodison.

Francesco Bruni pumped his fist after all four of his third-place finishes on Day 3 of the Bacardi Moth World Championship (©Martina Orsini photo).
Bruni catapulted into second overall by posting four third-place finishes. The veteran sailor pumped his fist after each race and was clearly ecstatic with his performance, even shouting “Yeah, baby!” after one race.

“I’m very, very happy. I could not expect more,” said Bruni. “Remember, I’m almost 45 years old so to be so consistent is not easy. I gave everything I had. I have to thank my son, Bobby, and my coach, Carlo de Paoli, for helping prepare me.”

Bruni pulled off the hero move of the regatta in Race 4, the second of the day, when he executed a port-tack start at the pin end. That is one of the riskiest starts in any race, but in the Moth class the degree of difficulty is 10 because the Moth is not easily tacked. Bruni did it not once, not twice but three times.

“I saw the right corner of the racecourse looked really good and the best way to get there was the port-tack start,” Bruni said. “Sail to the right corner and tack once to the windward mark. I have to minimize my tacks because, remember, I’m 45. It worked really well. I’m very, very happy with how I managed the day.”

Kirby was lucky to discover the crack in the vertical foil that is central to the Moth’s foiling ability. “If I hadn’t found the crack the foil probably would’ve broken during racing,” Kirby said.

While many in the fleet have new boats, new sails or new equipment, Kirby is sailing the same boat he’s had for the past three years. Before the regatta he took part in two week-long training sessions in Florida with Goodison, Funk and Victor Diaz de Leon. He credited that session and his knowledge of the area for helping with his performance.

“I’m just trying to be consistent, get off the start line in good shape and stay in the top 10 at the windward mark,” Kirby said. “The racecourse today was shifty and puffy at the top, it was tough. There is some geographical stuff that I’m aware of and that probably helped me pick off a few boats. But it’s tough. My legs are shaking from all the hiking. I can barely walk.”

Racing is scheduled to continue today with the wind strength forecast between 5 and 10 knots.

BACARDI MOTH WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP BERMUDA PROVISIONAL STANDINGS
(After 6 races, with one discard)
1. Paul Goodison (GBR) 1-1-(DNC-45)-1-2-1 – 6 points
2. Francesco Bruni (ITA) (13)-7-3-3-3-3 – 19
3. Rome Kirby (USA) (7)-2-6-5-5-5 – 23
4. Brad Funk (USA) 3-3-(7)-7-6-6 – 25
5. Victor Diaz de Leon (USA) 4-6-5-8-9-(10) – 32
6. Ted Hackney (AUS) 14-(15)-2-6-11-2 – 35
7. Benoit Marie (FRA) 8-4-9-10-8-(11) – 39
8. Dan Ward (GBR) 6-5-(12)-11-12-9 – 43
9. Ben Paton (GBR) (45-DNF)-24-8-9-4-7 – 52
10. Iain Jensen (AUS) 5-(45-DNC)-1-2-1-45 DNF – 54

Dublin foiling supremo Rory Fitzpatrick did not start the second race of the Bacardi Moth World Championship in Bermuda yesterday when 30–knot gusts hit the 33–boat fleet. It means the National Yacht Club and Royal Irish Yacht Club sailor now lies 24th overall some ten points adrift of countryman David Kenefick of Royal Cork Yacht Club who mastered both blustery races to count a 17 and 13 to be fourteenth overall, just seven points outside the top ten. Full results are here

Goodison Takes Lead

Paul Goodison of the U.K. took the early lead after winning the first two races on Great Sound.

Hosted by the Royal Bermuda yacht Club, the world championship got underway a day late after yesterday was blown out. Yesterday was on the hairy edge as the wind blew steadily between 18 and 22 knots with gusts nearing 30 knots. The conditions were challenging for the sailors but left some exhilarated.

Goodison didn't suffer any breakdowns today but one of his main rivals, Iain Jensen of Australia, did. Jensen led Goodison around the first lap of Race 1, heightening the intrigue as to which of the veteran Mothists is faster.

On the second upwind leg, however, Jensen's boom vang broke. He managed to salvage a fifth in the race but then missed the second race because he returned to shore to make a repair in the hopes of returning for the third race. By that point the wind had increased and the race committee decided to postpone the rest of the day's schedule.

Racing is scheduled to continue tomorrow with a forecast that calls for winds of 12 to 20 knots.

Bacardi Moth World Championship Bermuda Provisional Standings
(After 2 races)
1. Paul Goodison (GBR) 1-1 - 2 points
2. Brad Funk (USA) 3-3 - 6
3. Rome Kirby (USA) 7-2 - 9
4. Simon Hiscocks (GBR) 2-8 - 10
5. Victor Diaz de Leon (USA) 4-6 - 10
6. Dan Ward (GBR) 6-5 - 11
7. Benoit Marie (FRA) 8-4 - 12
8. Francesco Bruni (ITA) 13-7 - 20
9. David Holenweg (SUI) 9-12 - 21
10. Michael Barnes (GBR) 12-11 - 23

Royal Cork Yacht Club's David Kenefick has finished seventh in a fleet of 33 at the Moth Bermuda National Championship in Hamilton, Bermuda. The top result comes as the Moth World Championships begin today at the same venue.

Joshua Greenslade won the Bacardi Moth National Championship in a series that racing for the championship was cancelled yesterday due to very strong winds, so Greenslade won based on yesterday's results. Greenslade finished 1 point ahead of James Doughty while Benn Smith, the youngest competitor in the fleet at 18 years of age, was 11 points further back.

"It's a strange win, considering we only had three races, but it was fun," said the 27-year-old Greenslade who's a director of the Endeavour Community Sailing Program, a legacy of the America's Cup Endeavour program. Previously, Greenslade won national championships in the Optimist Class, 420 Class and match racing.

Racing was cancelled because the wind on Great Sound was blowing a steady 25 knots with gusts approaching 40 knots. As Afloat.ie reported previously, the Moth World Championship is scheduled to begin today with Kenefick and Dubliner Rory Fitzpatrick in action.

British sailor Paul Goodison, the favorite to win his third consecutive Moth world championship, won the regatta overall with the low score of 3 points. Another British sailor, Ben Paton, placed second and Matthew Chew of Australia was third. The Bermuda Nationals was an open regatta but the title of Bermuda National Champion could only be awarded to a Bermudian.

Bacardi Bermuda Moth National Championship Top Five Final Standings
(After 3 races)
1. Paul Goodison (U.K.) 1-1-1 - 3 points
2. Ben Paton (U.K.) 2-2-6 - 10
3. Matthew Chew (AUS) 6-5-3 - 14
4. Rome Kirby (USA) 3-3-10 - 16
5. Simon Hiscocks (U.K.) 7-8-2 - 17

Full results are here 

An international fleet featuring two Irish foilers plus the reigning two-time world champion Paul Goodison of the U.K. is set to contend the Bacardi Moth World Championship next week on Bermuda's Great Sound.

Royal Cork's David Kenefick and Rory Fitzpatrick from the National Yacht Club and Royal Irish Yacht Club will contest the event hosted by the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club and co-organised with the International Moth Class Association.

Laset year, Kenefick was the top Irish performer at a bumper edition of the foiling event in Italy when the Cork Harbour man finished 31st.

The 77th running of the Moth Worlds is scheduled Mar. 26-Apr. 1. Prior to that the Bermuda Moth National Championship will be staged Mar. 23-24.

Goodison, a member of the Artemis Racing Team for the America's Cup last summer in Bermuda, won the Worlds last year in Italy and two years ago in Japan. He won the 2017 Worlds by a comfortable 20 points and the 2016 Worlds by a scant 3 points. Through the two victories Goodison has racked up seven race wins and 20 top-3 finishes in 24 starts.

He comes into the regatta as the decided favorite and hopes to lay waste to this year's fleet with a new implement of destruction. Goodison took delivery of a new Kevin Ellway-designed Exocet Moth built by Maguire Boats of the U.K. at the end of January. He describes the boat as the same one with which he won the past two Worlds but with a potentially devastating development.

"It has a steeper wing bar in an effort to gain righting moment," said Goodison. "It's harder to sail because the angle of the bar is so steep that I'm not sliding across side-to-side like on the old boat. It's more of an uphill/downhill action, but the benefit is more straight-line speed."

The international fleet of 45 entries includes Australians Iain Jensen and Tom Slingsby, who placed 3rd and 4th, respectively, at the 2017 Worlds, and Matt Struble of the U.S., who won the U.S. Nationals two weeks ago. The fleet counts 12 entries from Great Britain, eight from the United States and four each from Australia and Bermuda. Entries have also been received from Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal and Switzerland. Eight sailors are racing for the Master's title and there is one entry each for the Women's and Youth divisions.

List Of Entrants (Subject to change)
Alex Adams (GBR), Kai Adolph (GER, Master's), Vanessa Ampelas (FRA, Women's), Francisco Andrade (POR), Aymeric Arthaud (FRA), Michael Barnes (GBR), Andrew Brazier (CAN), Francesco Bruni (ITA), Philipp Buhl (GER), Scott Bursor (USA), Matthew Chew (IRL), Victor Diaz de Leon (USA), Harmen Donker (NED), James Doughty (BER), Rory Fitzpatrick (IRL), Giovanni Galeotti (ITA), Zane Gills (AUS, Master's), Paul Goodison (GBR), Joshua Greenslade (BER), Ted Hackney (AUS), Simon Hiscocks (GBR, Master's), David Holenweg (SUI), Chris Jeeves (GBR), Iain Jensen (AUS), Andreas John (GER, Master's), David Kenefick (IRL), Rome Kirby (USA), Christian Luthi (BER, Master's), Benoit Marie (FRA), Zack Maxam (USA), Jim McMillan (GBR), Rob Partridge (HKG), Ben Paton (GBR), Brooks Read (USA), James Ross (GBR, Master's), Dennis Sargenti (USA), Philippe Schiller (SUI), Andrew Scrivan (USA), Tom Slingsby (AUS), Benn Smith (BER, Youth) Dave Smithwhite (GBR, Master's), Matthew Stark (GBR), Kyle Stoneham (GBR), Matt Struble (USA, Master's), Dan Ward (GBR)

Visiting UK foiling sailor Ross Harvey continued his winning ways at the 2017 Irish Moth National Championships, hosted by National Yacht Club at Dun Laoghaire in County Dublin at the weekend.

As Afloat.ie reported earlier, Harvey had built an early lead in an event that included a fun race around Dalkey Island. See vid here.

The overall winner, sailing Roxette, was a clear seven points ahead of Irish champion Rory Fitzpatrick after eight races sailed on Dublin Bay. 

British visitors occupied seven of the top eight places with next best Irish after Fitzpatrick being ninth placed Neil O'Toole of the host club. Full results are here.

After five races sailed at the Moth National Championships at the National Yacht Club in Dun Laoghaire this weekend, UK visitor Ross Harvey leads the host club's own Rory Fitzpatrick for overall honours but only by a single point.

So far the 2017 Irish Moth Nationals has included a Race 'Round Dalky [sic] Island for a bit of fun!', beautifully captured by Beau Outteridge Productions below:

The fledgling Irish fleet has been boosted a number of international visitors for the weekend but not, unfortunately, the much–hyped Australian Olympic gold medalist Nathan Outteridge, who is not competing after all.

Overall results to date are below: 

Sailed: 5, Discards: 1, To count: 4, Entries: 15, Scoring system: Appendix A
Rank HelmName Club SailNo Boat R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 Total Nett
1st  HLSC GBR4409 Roxette 2.0 1.0 4.0 3.0 9.0 19.0 10.0
2nd Rory Fitzpatrick NYC IRL4517 Flight of the Navigator 3.0 2.0 2.0 4.0 4.0 15.0 11.0
3rd Alex Adams CCSC GBR3980 Rollys Brownies 1.0 4.0 6.0 7.0 3.0 21.0 14.0
4th Ben Saxton RTYC GBR4483 Safty 4.0 6.0 1.0 8.0 5.0 24.0 16.0
5th Stuart Bithell HLSC GBR4310 Merlin 6.0 3.0 3.0 5.0 12.0 29.0 17.0
6th Simon Hiscocks WPNSA GBR4050 Shock Sailing 16.0 DNC 9.0 10.0 2.0 1.0 38.0 22.0
7th Neil O'Toole NYC IRL4139 WETSER 5.0 8.0 9.0 9.0 6.0 37.0 28.0
8th Ryan Seaton BYC NZL4390 Pretty in Pink 7.0 7.0 8.0 11.0 7.0 40.0 29.0
9th Adam Hyland NYC IRL 4516 Enticer69 8.0 11.0 5.0 6.0 11.0 41.0 30.0
10th Kyle Stoneham TBYC GBR4442 16.0 OCS 5.0 7.0 10.0 8.0 46.0 30.0
11th Dylan Fletcher WPNSA GBR4480 Ciara 16.0 DNC 16.0 DNC 16.0 DNC 1.0 2.0 51.0 35.0
12th Jim Devlin RStGYC IRL4097 DBS 9.0 10.0 16.0 DNC 12.0 10.0 57.0 41.0
13th Graeme Grant HYC IRL43 Voodoo 10.0 16.0 DNC 11.0 13.0 13.0 63.0 47.0
14th Stephen Oram NYC IRL4391 Funky Ford Cortina 11.0 12.0 12.0 14.0 14.0 63.0 49.0
15th Mat McGovern BYC 4139 Fixed Bad Dolfin 16.0 DNC 16.0 DNC 16.0 DNC 15.0 16.0 DNF 79.0 63.0

A fine turnout of Irish Moth sailors were rewared yesterday with three gold fleet finishes at the high–calibre 220–boat Moth World Championshis on Lake Garda, Italy. Royal Cork's David Kenefick was top Irish with a 31st in the Gold fleet sailing his brand new boat (as Afloat.ie reported previously here). Kenefick was just one point outside the top thirty. 'I'm quite happy with that, lots to work on before the next worlds in may in Bermuda', the RCYC sailor told Afloat.ie.

Next was Irish Moth Champion Rory Fitzpatrick, sailing a County Wicklow design in 35th, the Dubliner was unfortunately forced out of the regatta early after a collision. Olympic Laser Radial Silver Medalist Annalise Murphy was top female in 51st place. 

Among other Irish results, Howth Yacht Club's stand–out youth performer Ewan McMahon had a 23rd and two behind him was the National Yacht Club's Neil O'Toole in 25th. Howth Yacht Club's Alistair Kissane was 56th and Royal St. George Yacht Club's Adam Hyland was 73rd. Another Royal St. George Yacht Club sailor Jim Devlin was a bronze fleet finisher.

Download the official results below at the bottom of this story.

Annalise Murphy sailed one day with a broken rudder and capsized 'about 50 times'. 'I knew something was wrong but didn't know what! I was actually pretty lucky it didn't completely break off and sink!, the Olympic Silver Medalist told Afloat.ie. Photo: Martina Orsini

Paul Goodison (GBR) smashed it on the final day of racing at the 2017 McDougall + McConaghy Moth Worlds at Lake Garda against the hottest fleet of Moths ever assembled. Goody (to his friends), is the first foiling Moth sailor to win back to back world titles and the result is that much more special considering the high calibre of competition from the most recent top Americas Cup skippers and sailors with more Olympic medals round their necks than any other regatta with exception of the Olympic Games itself!

Part of the massive 220–boat Moth Worlds on Lake Garda – the largest fleet ever assembled. Photo: Martina Orsini

Going into the final day of racing Goodison begun the day with a 13 point cushion over Pete Burling (NZL) with Iain ‘Goobs’ Jensen with an outside chance of catching Burling.

The weather gods turned it on again for the final day of racing when a light ‘Ora’ started to build from the South around lunchtime and any fluffy little clouds dispersed to leave another fine sunny afternoon for racing.

The Gold fleet was sent out around 1330hrs to race on the South course to complete as many races as possible before the cut off time of 1600hrs. Race 9 of the championship started under the black flag in 12 – 14 knots of breeze with flat water. As usual, the aim was to charge to the Eastern shore and before hitting the rocks in front of the Fraglia Vela Malcesine clubhouse, tack and try to find a clean lane of pressure to get to the top of the course in good shape.

At the windward gates, the breeze was quite soft causing a number of boats to drop off the foils, especially if squeezing round the marks. On the first lap it was Scott Babbage (AUS) leading, followed by the young gun, Gian Ferrighi (ITA) with most of the big names in the top 10. The downwind leg proved a bit more shifty and the pack shuffled. It was Tom Slingsby (AUS) who stayed in the best pressure to take the win from Nathan Outteridge (AUS) with Rob Greenhalgh (GBR) third, Burling 5th and Jensen 6th.

PRO Tim Hancock did a good job of setting up for race 10 under the same conditions. Started under a black flag it was a similar story with slightly different players. The breeze shifted a bit right and begun to drop at the top end causing some competitors to drop off the foils.

At the bottom gate, the action started to unfold, Jensen got round just in front of Slingsby but Slingers dropped off the foils bang in front of Outteridge and Babbage allowing Goodison to slide past inside avoiding the low riders. Burling was also in trouble rounding the opposite gate and dropping off the foils. Greenhalgh was also in a world of pain.

Coming into the finish it was Jensen who crossed the line with a massive lead and a big smile on his face as he closed up the points to second placed Burling to one point. Second was Goodison to all but seal the title. Many competitors had fallen off the foils in the soft patches around the course. Singsby crossed third but Burling was deep in the pack.

With time running out and the breeze getting a bit weak, the PRO announced that the third race of the day, race 11 of the world championship would be the last. The last race would be victory laps for Paul Goodison but the chase for second and third would be decided on the last race between Burling and Jensen.

The last race started in the same light to moderate breeze, 11 – 13 knots from 215 degrees. Again the fleet used the clubhouse shoreline for a flyby in front of the grandstand of supporters. This time it was Tom Slingsby who looked like he had made the right foil choice leading the world champion elect with some of the usual suspects struggling with foil selection. Slingsby cruised across the finish line for a second win of the day with the victorious Goodison crossing in second.

A good third for West Australian, Steve Thomas, Babbage finished a consistent 4th and Jensen in 5th finishing comfortably ahead of his skipper of so many years, Nathan Outteridge. As Burling crossed in a lowly 17th, supporters scrambled for their calculators to do the maths.

 Agonisingly for Goobs Jensen he fell one point short of toppling the kiwi but was very happy with his third place overall. With Slingsby’s final day score of 1,3,1 he held on to 4th and Scott Babbage came back from the brink early in the regatta to snatch 5th off Nathan Outteridge.

The Youth category went down to the wire on the final day with a fine battle between the two Italian twins Gian Marie and Stefano Ferrighi. With an 8th in the final race on Saturday and a 9th today (Sunday), Stefano stole the title from his brother by 3 places. Stefano finished 23rd overall an excellent performance in a fleet of champions.

The Master’s category swung between Jason Belben (GBR) and Rob Gough (AUS) and a similar tussle played out. Rob Gough won this one finishing 25th overall to Jason Belben’s 28th.

First in the female category went to Irish Olympian Annalise Murphy who finished 51 in the Gold group.

The Silver group was won by John Clifton (GBR) and the Bronze group won by Maximilian Mage of Germany.

PRO Tim Hancock and his team did a great job getting through so many races for a fleet of 220 Moths, the biggest Moth regatta ever assembled.