Australian Moth National Titles - Day 1 waves equal carnage
by Leigh Dunstan on 9 Jan 2012
2012 KA Sails Australian Moth National Titles SW
The 2012 Australian Moth National Titles, held at Mornington Yacht Club, has attracted some exceptional sailors with the top four from last years world titles competing.
Sailing a Moth Nationals on Victoria’s Port Philip Bay was always going to be interesting, introducing waves into a class that has become synonymous with flat water locations. Day one was a baptism of fire for much of the fleet.
The day started with the invitation race in an anticlimactic fashion with a dying breeze and lumpy conditions. The lightest sailor in the fleet, Jack Sherring took the win from Leigh Dunstan and Andrew Cuddhiy in third.
Race one of the titles was started in light, non foiling, conditions. Half way up the first windward leg the breeze filled in and quickly reached twenty knots as the waves increased.
Carnage quickly followed as the fleet rounded the top mark with most of the fleet struggling to negotiate the building seas. Sailors that weren’t use to the waves had to adapt quickly to stay upright. Scott Babbage came out on top with a hard fought win, from Josh McNight and the current world champion Nathan Outteridge in third.
Outteridge had flown in from the A-Cat Nationals overnight.
Race two saw a similar conditions with a building sea state. Similar to race one spectacular crashes were not hard to find with competitors still struggling to come to terms with the Port Phillip waves.
Tasmanian sailor of the year, Rob Gough, took the win from Andrew McDougall and Scott Babbage in third. Scott Babbage is leading the series from Rob Gough and Nathan Outteridge in third.
With three races tomorrow day two of racing will see more waves and more action so stay tuned.
