2022 MOCRA NATIONALS APRIL 29th – MAY 2nd
MEGA MULTIHULL GET TOGETHER
With a superb mix of 16 boats on the entry list and two more still to add there’s no doubt that this will be a multihull gathering to remember.
IT’S GOING TO BE A BIT DIFFERENT THIS YEAR
Who will be there?
So far there are 16 showing up on the list. We think another has just signed up and there is an 18th that hopes to be racing on the coastal legs.
Not all the boats have made it into the write up but most are hereand others can be updated as we go along.
It’s impossible to cover full histories of the boats and their crews in just a few paragraphs, many go back decades, but hopefully this gives some idea of the great variety of boats and sailors who will be enjoying this superb event.
TRIMARANS
GRAINGER 075 Mk2 ‘WOMBAT’
Matt Baker and Wombat won the 2017 Nationals in Poole and they make a mean opponent, definitely one to watch out for. Matt is a very experienced and accomplished sailor who has competed in and won numerous events, always on a multihull since his Clipper race days early this century! Matt is also a member of the build team at the Multihull Centre and is a frequent Dazcat sailor and spent last season on the Dazcat 1295 Slinky Malinki. Crewing on Wombat this year will be Nick Hardy and his son Aidan for the Friday. Matt’s long time friend, surfing and sailing companion Cliff will join him for the coastal legs. Wombat hasn’t been seen out for some time – with Matt’s other commitments and an old balsa boat needing some time and TLC in the yard. It’s good to see her back out, even if named ‘Ombat’ these days when viewed from the starboard side!
FARRIER 9A ‘MISTY’
Misty is owned by Chris and Bryony Dodd who bought the boat just before Christmas and towed it back from Germany. They’ve only just launched the boat so are still getting to know it. Normally based on the Hamble, they’ve brought Misty down for the Nationals and will be dashing back afterwards. Bryony’s dad Phillip Meakins will join them for the racing and the sail home.
DIAM 24 RAYGUN
Photo thanks Robin Russell
Raygun is co-owned in a three way syndicate and will be sailed in the Nationals by two of the owners; Pete Middleton and Dave Barden and Pete’s daughter. The third owner is otherwise engaged on a different boat.
Dave heads up Allspars riggers, one of the Multihull Centre’s preferred local suppliers and also a race sponsor. Dave is also regular Hissy Fit crew and has completed at least one Fastnet on board. Last year he and Raygun’s third owner, Simon Baker, swapped places for the final Fowey – Plymouth leg. It’s a bit of a wetter ride on the Diam!
DIAM 24 DIAM 24
Sailed by Team Roadrunner Racing which is made up of helm/owner Luke Butler and crew, Duncan Yeabsley. Luke came through the RYA squads in multihulls through to Olympic development squads. Then racing F18s worldwide, he is now sailing Diams and different keel boats with Duncan.
CORSAIR F28 ‘TRILLUM’
Owned by Will Rogers who bought Trillum in January and tells me that he’s new to multihulls, never sailed or raced them before so he’s still finding his way and very much looking forward to the challenge. Will previously raced monos and has done a lot of solo racing in the South West but also some class 40 offshore in the past (Rorc RBI etc)… previously 29er/49er/Musto Skiff sailing.
Racing with Will are Andy Carr, an experienced multihull sailor, and Noah Reece, RS Aero 7 champion in the 2019 World Championships in Australia. Noah grew up on and around boats and still just 21 and he has also done his fair share of multihull racing and was a regular crew member on Wombat as a lad. Andy has twice raced the two-handed Round Britain and Ireland on board trimaran The Edge and joined Dazcat 1495 Hissy Fit on their 2017 Fastnet win as well as many other races. Will and Trillum are definitely in good hands with Andy and Noah for his first multihull race.
FARRIER F9R ‘TWISTER’
Twister is owned and sailed by the Lee Family, the youngest of whom is just 8. The 31ft, 1.6 ton trimaran has sailed with its young family for many years. Before the family, some 20 years ago, Will was a champion Cherub Class sailor often racing with Robin who built their winning boat and is now a regular on D1495 Hissy Fit. Will has also raced on many other multihulls including the 2017 Fastnet on board Dazcat 1495 Hissy Fit and a number of Round the Island Races. It’s always a joy to see Will and his young crew out joining the racing.
NEWICK 38 ‘NEMO’
Nemo is owned and crewed by Matt Theobald and Enora Pinchon. They bought it in France as a project at the end of 2019 and have been racing as much as possible as they do her up bit by bit. This year Nemo is ready to enter the two handed Round Britain and Ireland. Matt, yard manager at the Multihull Centre, spent most of his childhood around the yard and has multihulls in his blood. Matt has raced on any boat he could get on for as long as he can remember and has done at least two RBIs on Backlash and Belladonna. Enora is newer to sailing and multihulls but has already done a few 1000 miles, including the 2019 Fastnet on board D10 Belladonna. For them, the work on Nemo has all been about making her as strong and fast as possible and they’ll be racing the Nationals two handed in practice for the RBI.
SHUTTLEWORTH TRIMARAN 38 ‘MORPHEUS’
Image with thanks James Tomlinson
Morpheus, owned by Andrew Fennel, hasn’t made it onto the Nationals entry list but will be there for the coastal legs. That’s because this awesome machine has only just been re-launched and is being re-rigged on the 29th.
This all carbon weapon was launched in 2018 and since then Andy and team have been learning the boat and adding strength where needed so they can wind her up to full capacity. So watch out folks – she’s just emerged from a winter in the Multihull Centre sheds where carbon expert Ian Munslow (racing on D-1 Friday, Orbit monohull for the coastal legs) has been working his magic. Andy says the modifications are “over-spec and bang on time!” Couldn’t be happier. all this in preparation for the RBI – looks like Morpheus is not planning to hold back!
Crewing on the Nationals with Andy (previously owned Strontium Dog) are regular crew Sam Curtis and Andy Sinclair of Highwater Sails – another of our preferred local suppliers and a race sponsor. Highwater have been stiching a secret weapon for Morpheus’ wardrobe on the quiet. Also on board is the young Paddy Hutchings. Paddy is a local Plymouth sailor racing on the world scene while raising awareness for clean oceans and environment through his #sail4sustainabily campaign. More about Paddy’s impressive accomplishments here.
Andy hopes to be joined by Morpheus’ builder Simon Redding for the RBI, if he gets his visa sorted in time…
CATAMARANS
LE ROUGE 40 ‘ADONNANTE’
Adonnante is an Azuli F40 designed by Erik Lerouge in 1986 and built by Soubise in France in 1987, she was number 3 in the series. ( Jon’s Prickly Pair is number 1). Adonnante is owned by Peter Lillywhite and is predominantly cruised with a group of close friends. All of them enjoy the sailing in company and a cruisey-race along our beautiful coast each year on the Triangle. Peter bought her in 2000 and has updated sails and deck gear but she remains largely standard and is the lowest rating boat in the SW multihull fleet. Peter says “On a good day the MOCRA fleet have to wait until we have finished to see who has won on handicap”.
Adonnante’s crew for the regatta is Tony who has sailed with Peter for over ten years and is also responsible for superb meals underway. Mark, who is normally present, can’t be there due to an earlier commitment. and Peter and Adonnante feel lucky to have Becky join them for her first race aboard. Becky has a long sailing background racing dinghies and a owning a couple of offshore trimarans.
MALDIVES 32 ‘MOLLY 5’
Molly 5 has done some extensive cruising with the young family. They also enjoy racing the Nationals as a family and will be sailing down from the East Coast to join in.
DAZCAT 8 ‘D-1’
This is the boat that started it all off for Dazcat and later Multimarine. It was launched in 1988 and raced by the very young and fearless Daz. The rest, as they say, is history (which you can look up on line if you’re interested). Jump forward three decades and D-1 made her way back to Daz and the yard at the end of 2019. Aspirations to race her and win again in the Round the Island Race for the anniversary were thwarted by both COVID and a series of set-backs on board. With the yard super busy D-1 took a back burner but we’re keeping fingers crossed that all the niggles associated with pushing an old boat have now been sorted though there has been little (no) opportunity to give her a good test.
On board for the Nationals on Friday will be Daz, Richard Woods, Ian Munslow and Joe Jones. Richard is a very well-known multihull designer and prolific sailor of almost everything and he also enjoys a good race so it’s great to have him on board. Ian is one of our carbon build specialists at the yard and has an impressive sailing pedigree behind him. He will also be taking part in the RBI but on a Sunfast 30 monohull with his old sponsor from his Mini Transat days. Joe has recently joined the yard team and has no previous sailing experience but expressed an interest in getting involved so here he is, what a boat to learn to sail on and what an event for your experience! For the coastal legs Ian will be on board the monohulls Orbit and Dazcat Media, Oriel Butcher, who will be filming from the Powercat on Friday will join the D-1 team.
DAZCAT 995R ‘EASY TIGER’
(Photo with thanks Paul Gibbins Photography)
Easy Tiger is co-owned by Neil Boughton and Julian Weyer-Brown who will be entering the RBI this year first time for them and the boat. Easy Tiger was launched in 2007 as an open-bridge deck ‘kit’ boat. Neil and a different syndicate partner bought her in 2013 and undertook a massive re-fit to give her a comfortable saloon. However, it wasn’t until Julian joined forces with Neil in 2019 that ET has started to take the racing more seriously, though they all still enjoy as much family cruising time as possible as well.
Crewing on board ET at the Nationals will be Neil and Julian, joined by Dan Drew on the Friday and Neil’s wife Jenny (weather depending!) for the sail to Falmouth. Easy Tiger is fast and light and Neil and Julian definitely enjoy seeing what she can do so we’re hoping for some good action from them.
DAZCAT 10 ‘BELLADONNA’
Belladonna will be racing two-handed with owner Dominic Gooding and Multimarine Project Manager Brendan Seward in preparation for the RBI. Dominic and Belladonna began their racing lives together in 2017, soon after Dominic became her 3rd owner. Belladonna was launched in 1999 and like Dominic had spent her previous life as a cruiser. But a new set of sails and some tweaks here and there soon had the rest of the fleet paying close attention as she was quickly winning legs on both the Nationals and Triangle race. In 2018 they did their first Round Britain & Ireland two handed with Matt Theobald, Multihull Centre Yard manager and did extremely well in the lighter wind legs. The 2019 Fastnet gave them a bit of a battering.
Brendan has been sailing multihulls for many years and started sailing on Dazcats with D1150 Bare Necessities (then Drama Queen) when he was doing his work placement with Multimarine. Since then he’s raced on a huge variety of boats, including a great deal on board D1495 Hissy Fit. He and Dominic will make an awesome team and another challenge to watch out for.
DAZCAT 1150 ‘BARE NECESSITIES’
Image with thanks Robin Russell
Bare Necessities is owned by Bruce Sutherland and Alison Busfield. Mostly they sail three up with their English shepherd Ellie but for serious or round the cans racing Ellie stays at home and sometimes extra crew join them. Last year they took line honours on the gruelling Three Peaks race when they were joined by Dominic from Belladonna and Brendan, Multimarine Project Manager. Bare Necessities was launched in 2009 as Drama Queen and was originally owned by Simon Baker. She’s cruised and raced 1000s of miles and podiumed on many occasions. Bruce and Alison’s plans to go cruising in the med were interrupted by COVID so this will be their only race with us this season before they head for the sun. Still, they can’t resist a nice little race so they’ll be stopping to do the Ar-Men on their way down. I believe the race organisers kindly changed the entry rules so the two-handed English Dazcat could join them.
DAZCAT 1195 ‘SUEÑOS’
Photo with thanks Robin Russell
Sueños is owned by Rupert Kidd and was launched in 2010 as a true cruiser-racer. Rupert is probably the most experienced multihull sailor and racer from the Dazcat owners. They’ll be racing the Nationals with Alan Mitchell, Chris Briggs and Elliott Wilkinson, between them Sueños’ most experienced crew ever and all of whom have sailed 1000s of miles with Rupert on Sueños and other boats.
Alan is one of Rupert’s oldest friends and they’ve raced and cruised across oceans and decades. They’ve co-skippered on two previous RBIs on Rupert’s trimaran Fiery Cross and will be pairing up again to do it this year on board Sueños, making the oldest Dazcat team. Chris has also known and sailed with Rupert on and off for over two decades as well as numerous other races on different boats, including Dazcats, monohulls, and his own Nigel Iren’s design The Edge. Chris and Andy Carr (sailing the Nationals on Trillum) twice competed in the RBI on the Edge but Chris will be doing it on a monohulls this time! Elliot, the youngest by a long way teamed up with Rupert as a teenager crewing on his Firebird ‘Fiery’ . They’ve since done many miles and races together, normally two-up, including the 2018 RBI and 2019 Fastnet. Elliott has now grown up and has to go to work so Alan will be with Rupert for this year’s two-handed.
DAZCAT 1295 ‘SLINKY MALINKI’
Slinky Malinki is owned by James Holder and was launched in 2017. At the time James’ hope was that with this boat he and his regular crew, all good friends who’ve raced together on different boats, could win the RORC Season Championship in the Multihulls Class. They spent subsequent seasons entering into as many of the RORC Races as they could get to, clocking up the podiums as they and the boat learnt each other. They achieved their goal last season and just for the record, also won the MOCRA Nationals.
This year Slinky will be racing with Mike Christie, David Starkey and…James writes “I am delighted to say that my son Charlie Holder will be racing with us. Charlie is 15 and is graduating from racing the family Squib with me to coastal racing on the big boat for the first time …”. What a great step for Charlie who until now has enjoyed the boat as a family cruiser.
DAZCAT 1495 ‘HISSY FIT’
Photo James Tomlinson
Hissy Fit was launched in 2016 and is owned by Simon Baker, Multimarine Director. Between them they make a truly awesome team and have podiumed together many times for both inshore and offshore races. Simon and Hissy Fit will be entering this year’s RBI but co-skipper Dan won’t be joining them for the Nationals.
Hissy Fit has a substantial crew on board for this year’s Nationals. Both Richard Bickford and Robin Russell are long-time friends and regular crew on Hissy Fit. Robin has sailed with and against Simon since both their Cherub building and racing days (yes, Simon began his boat building days with wooden boats). Matt Owen of PR Systems Marine Electronics will also be on board with Tom. Matt is one of our excellent local suppliers and a the race sponsor. He has sailed and raced on a vast range of boats including many Dazcats thanks to his work. He’s also a regular on Hissy Fit. Tim Beck of Marine Gas Services, one of our local suppliers, joins the crew and last but definitely not least Juliene Giradot from French sailing magazine Voiles et Voilliers. Juliene will be staying on board Hissy Fit for the duration, taking media from a Powercat 525 on the Friday and then racing to Falmouth on board. He hopes to be able to hop onto some different boats for the other legs.
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