Tide Riding

The Moths had their first invite to the tide ride this year and what a weekend it proved to be. With a forecast of mega winds all weekend a surprising number of Mothies showed their support. A select few decided to go for a blast first thing on saturday as the breeze was building and we weren't due on course till 4ish.
This left us to drink tea, eat Helen Rollinson's brownie stash and watch as numerous 800's and 29ers dropped their rigs and the B14's pootled back in under jib. The Mustos put on a cracking display with a good few stacks and a lot of spray!
With gusts touching 40 knots at times the collective Moth fleet had a group huddle to debate things, but when Sam Pascoe went out and came back in again pretty promptly it was decided the bar was the place to be.

Sundays morning saw a good few sore heads and plenty of breeze again but with a forecast to drop by lunchtime hopes were high.
Luckily the wind dropped off to a good 15-20 knots and we hopped to it. We got four races in, in quick succession running really short courses with a split gate at the bottom and generally doing about 4 laps.
The usual faces were up at the front of the field with Simon Payne and Jason Belben battling out for the top spot with Si taking the win. Adam May took third but was given a run for his money by Mike Lennon who was consistently up there in fourth. Boona, Rodders and Alex Adams took the next few places with me following in eighth after having a proper stinker in the last one. I was upside down at the start and after clawing my way back and sneaking in front of Adam at the windward mark I cocked up the bearaway and pitchpoled landing on the mark! Mistakes were pretty costly as there was no room for a discard.

Full results are here...
Event photo galleries here...

Other than a Muppet on the helm, Secret Squirrel was on fine form, with plenty of upwind pace and control. The new sail was a bit on the flat side, but I'm going to attack my mast and stiffen up the top section to compensate. The next event in Corus in South Wales at the beginning of November and should make a good end to the season.