Davies performs well at Enliven International Moth National Championships (From Maldon and Burnham Standard)

Davies performs well at Enliven International Moth National Championships

4:59pm Thursday 28th June 2012 in Sport

GARETH Davies made an impact in the Enliven International Moth National Championships.

Stone Sailing Club hosted the International Moth class, which describe themselves as Formula One on water, championships.

Forty-two competitors from throughout the country and Europe took part in the four-day event which finished on Sunday.

Witham sailor Davies, who only started sailing his new moth about two months ago, managed to grab fourth place in the event.

Stone Sailing Club member Davies’ newly developed Maguire Moth is proving to be extremely competitive against other models in the fleet.

Day one began with a shifty south easterly breeze with significant variations in both pressure and direction.

Davies had a good first day with a 12th, seventh and fifth places which left him in fifth place.

High winds meant the cancellation of day two’s races.

On day three a gusty 25 knots kicked up a short, sharp chop.

However, following several postponements, a window opened late in the afternoon, allowing the fleet to launch in bumpy and challenging conditions.

These conditions saw Davies end the day with two sixth places and see him into fourth place.

The sailing on day four was again cancelled due to the high winds so the competition ended with Chris Rashley, from the Royal London Yacht Club, becoming the 2012 International Moth National Champion.

Hayling Island Sailing Club’s Simon Payne came second with Royal Lymington’s Peter Barton third and Davies fourth.