International Moth Worlds - Victory for Nathan Outteridge + Video

by Mark Jardine / YachtsandYachting.com on 26 Jul 2014

2014 International Moth World Championship - Nathan Outteridge Tom Gruitt / yachtsandyachting.com

The forecast for the final day of the International Moth World Championship was for no wind, but it turned out to be a sparkling day with the best breeze of the week. Four races were held in glorious Summer racing conditions, with 10-14 knot winds, leading to very tactical racing.

Gold fleet racing started at 9.30am, with Nathan Outteridge never letting Chris Rashley out of his sights. Ben Paton led the charge in race 7, with the leaders round the windward mark and screaming along the Hayling shoreline. Chris Rashley was in second followed by Mike Lennon and Outteridge in fourth. Robert Greenhalgh and Scott Babbage climbed through the fleet to finish second and third respectively behind Ben Paton, who took his first ever Moth Worlds race victory, with Outteridge fourth, Lennon fifth and Rashley sixth.

On his first Moth worlds race win Ben said, 'It meant quite a lot to me, when I knew that I could win the race after the first lap I gave it everything I had to make sure that I kept everyone behind me and extend my lead a bit so that my downwind was pretty comfortable. I was getting pretty excited about crossing the line as last year in Hawaii I'd led round the windward mark many, many times but wasn't good enough downwind so it was brilliant.'

Race 8 started soon after with a crowded pin end of the line. Jason Belben led around the track to win from Scott Babbage and Andrew McDougall (A-Mac) in third - a result that vastly improved Australia's chances of retaining the Moth Ashes.

Race 9 saw Josh Mcknight take a small lead over Outteridge with Chris Rashley chasing hard in third. Josh did a great job of holding off Nathan to take the win, but Chris' third was not enough and sealed the title for Nathan Outteridge. Paul Goodison knocked in a good race in fourth with Robert Greenhalgh having a much better day in fifth.

There were a few white-caps on the waves at the start of the final race - fantastic conditions. The Patonator had a flying start at the Committee Boat end, but it was Josh Mcknight who led the first lap from Outteridge and A-Mac sailing another blinder for the Australian Moth Ashes team.

Josh led Nathan with Chris Rashley moving up to third. The final leg became really unstable with all the leaders dropping off their foils at times. In the end Outteridge knocked in 15 gybes in a band of breeze to win the race by a country mile and wrap up his championship in style! Josh limped across the line in second with Robert Greenhalgh slipping through to third, Ben Paton fourth and Tom Offer fifth.

2014 International Moth World Championship - Nathan Outteridge © Tom Gruitt / yachtsandyachting.com

Nathan said about the final race, 'It had got a bit soft in that very last race and I actually fell off the foils at the top mark. Josh Mcknight and Chris Rashley gybed in a really good puff, and I managed to gybe, get foiling again and did about 15 gybes down in this one little puff, turned around half-way to see how I was going and no-one was foiling so it was a pretty nice way to finish, to have a really big lead.'

Josh Mcknight who finished third overall said, 'It was a really good event, we were lucky to get the breeze in the end as it was looking pretty borderline at the start. It was really good racing that we had in the finals and it was one of the closest regattas we've had in a while. I finished one point of Chris (Rashley) and Nathan and Chris had a battle early on in the finals so it was really, really good to see.

On Australia retaining the #MothAshes Josh said, 'Well I mean that's really all we come to these events for - the Moth Ashes. It's a great trophy to have as it puts emphasis on a bit of team spirit among Australia and England... A-Mac's got a knack for pulling something out of the bag, whether it be new kit or just a stellar result, he's always sort-of done it so it's good to see him do it again.'

2014 International Moth World Championship - Jason Belben © Tom Gruitt / yachtsandyachting.com

Robert Greenhalgh, who had a far better final day said, 'It's been a great worlds, great event at Hayling. Conditions have been hard for the race officers, but they've made the best of it, they've brought the starts forward and we got some races away. I had a disappointing mid-regatta, some speed issues which I dealt with by changing foil today and I was off again. So a little disappointing, but pleased to know I'm on the pace again.'

Local sailor Ollie Holden, who finished 23rd overall in his second Moth Worlds said, 'I'm absolutely thrilled. I had no idea I could do as well as that. I'm really, really pleased, it's really come together... What I've found in the Gold fleet is that you're punished really badly for any mistake you make. I took a wrong turn up the beat in the last race and you're just at the back, there's no free passes basically and you've just got to fight so hard to get back. As an amateur, behind the top 15 there's a really tight bunch of about 20 or 30 boats so it's real nip and tuck sailing - it's really good.'

Ollie gave us his thoughts on Nathan Outteridge winning the title, 'I think it's fully deserved - he's a legend, an absolute legend. Good for him.'

Ollie was also really impressed with how his home club hosted the event, 'I actually think they've done really well. They've pulled it together, we've got a fantastic team of volunteers here, more than 100 involved in running this event, so that's fantastic. They're pretty much the best in the country, if not the best in the world, so it's good.'
Stevie Morrison described his first Moth Worlds regatta, 'It was a bit of a shame about the weather, but we've had a great last day so I'll certainly remember that as a real insight into what Moth racing can be like. For me it was just an incredible learning experience, I think I want to go away and let my brain turn from the mush it's in right now into some coherent thought patterns, come back in two weeks and start racing again. It's been a hard week but I've loved it.'

Tim Hancock, the event's Principal Race Officer said, 'The final day was a glamorous day, we had up to 16 knots of breeze, we had three really good races, the last one was a bit softer but still foiling all the way round pretty much, so I'm delighted with the last day. The club puts a lot of effort into this, 130 volunteers so it's a huge effort from everybody. The UK class bid for this event over four years ago, so for it all to culminate in a warm, sunny week, ok challenging wind at times, but to come together in the great finish of the last couple of days, I'm delighted for everybody.'

2014 International Moth World Championship - Outteridge celebrates victory © Tom Gruitt / yachtsandyachting.com

Nathan Outteridge in his prize giving speech said, 'It's amazing how much can change in a couple of weeks. Mike (Lennon) showed us all how to do it during the Nationals and things changed a bit. Firstly I'd like to thank the sailing club, they've put on a great event, obviously in really trying conditions. It was good to see we got out there early and got some good racing in today. Really impressed with how the Brits have performed. Chris Rashley's done a great job, he set the bar and I've been chasing him all week so well done to Chris, well done to Josh (Mcknight) for his podium as well. Thanks to everyone who has organised the event, the sponsors, it's been a massive event to try and pull together and there's been a huge turnout. I think the class is really strong, so really happy to be here and be involved. Big thanks to A-Mac and Simon from Mach 2, Simon did a great job putting me back on the water on the first day, I think he's been keeping everyone's boats intact, regardless of what type of boat it is. You helped me in Hawaii and helped me when I bent my push-rod in the first race - it was nice not to have to carry those 70 points... Really looking forward to Sorrento next year, hopefully as many of you as possible can come down and do it.'

Tom Offer, who won the Corinthian Trophy at the Moth Worlds, won a new CST boom which was instantly turned into a 'Boom of Doom' for his pint to travel down, 'It was a little bit dusty - I think I made a good effort of it.'

On the week overall Tom said, 'Difficult, you know, it's a world championship. I'd done as much preparation as I felt I could do before the event. I was extremely pleased with my result, wanted to get a top ten and managed to achieve that so I'm really, really pleased. You look at the list of massive sailing names that are in this fleet that I have luckily managed to finish above so I'm really pleased with my performance and it's just been lots of good fun.'
The International Moth class is hugely grateful to the companies that are helping make this championship possible; Magic Marine, LV, Lennon Sails, CST Composites, Ronstan and Blueteq.

2014 International Moth World Championship © Tom Gruitt / yachtsandyachting.com

2014 International Moth World Championship - Ben Paton © Tom Gruitt / yachtsandyachting.com

Overall Results:

Gold Fleet

Pos	Nation	Sail No	Helm	F1	F2	F3	F4	F5	F6	F7	F8	F9	F10	Pts
1st	AUS	2	Nathan Outteridge	-4	1	2	1	2	2	-4	4	2	1	23
2nd	GBR	7	Chris Rashley	1	4	4	6	3	1	6	-13	3	-20	33
3rd	AUS	4142	Josh Mcknight	5	3	3	2	1	-7	-10	7	1	2	34
4th	AUS	3	Scott Babbage	9	-12	1	3	7	-18	3	2	7	8	51
5th	GBR	4	Ben Paton	2	5	5	10	-12	3	1	-16	9	5	60
6th	GBR	5	Robert Greenhalgh	11	14	(DNC)	9	-15	5	2	8	5	3	62
7th	AUS	6	Rob Gough	15	2	6	5	4	16	8	-17	6	-17	77
8th	GBR	4038	Tom Offer	7	8	12	15	9	4	-33	6	-16	6	87
9th	GBR	4123	Dylan Fletcher	3	10	7	-13	13	8	12	5	-14	4	89
10th	GBR	4147	Michael Lennon	-14	9	9	11	10	11	5	-28	11	11	91
11th	GBR	3942	Jason Belben	13	-23	13	12	14	6	-15	1	12	7	99
12th	GBR	4146	Paul Goodison	8	-24	11	4	-20	13	13	14	4	12	101
13th	GBR	3967	Chris Draper	16	6	10	-21	-19	12	7	12	15	14	116
14th	AUS	3900	Andrew McDougall	19	-26	8	8	17	-30	9	3	17	9	125
15th	SUI	3796	Arnaud Psarofaghis	10	16	-18	18	5	14	16	9	18	-21	130
16th	SUI	4112	Christopher Rast	6	11	14	17	6	-23	-28	10	13	22	131
17th	USA	9	Brad Funk	12	13	15	7	8	9	-19	19	8	15	137
18th	JPN	3989	Hiroki Goto	-21	17	19	-28	11	20	21	21	10	10	160
19th	ITA	4138	Gian Maria Ferrighi	31	7	21	16	18	10	17	20	-43	-45	182
20th	JPN	4095	Kohei Kajimoto	17	25	-41	23	26	15	24	-40	39	19	229
21st	ITA	4092	Carlo de Paoli	27	28	22	19	23	-36	23	-50	25	27	235
22nd	GBR	3985	Simon Hiscocks	18	33	27	20	36	-59	31	18	24	-43	245
23rd	GBR	4149	Oliver Holden	23	18	26	-35	22	31	30	-37	26	25	257
24th	GBR	4036	Dan Vincent	-42	20	-45	38	24	26	27	38	23	16	258
25th	GBR	4122	Andrew Friend	-51	27	25	24	-57	28	34	11	20	23	286
26th	GBR	3947	Ed Chapman	28	-41	34	-39	27	19	22	29	21	31	292
27th	BEL	4049	Giovanni Galeotti	22	(DNC)	49	48	41	39	-51	22	19	28	293
28th	FRA	4090	Seb Col	33	-62	23	32	-38	37	18	15	29	34	297
29th	ITA	4093	Stefano Rizzi	55	21	17	14	16	22	44	(DNC)	(DNC)	DNC	298
30th	GBR	4155	Stevie Morrison	-40	29	29	-43	37	33	29	35	37	18	299
31st	SWE	4159	Nils Akervall	30	31	36	37	30	24	-61	-45	27	29	305
32nd	GBR	4096	Tim Penfold	29	34	-46	-44	35	17	20	30	32	26	317
33rd	GBR	4059	Dan Ward	38	-52	37	27	33	40	38	32	31	-49	334
34th	GBR	4065	Daniel Henderson	-49	37	43	30	39	21	25	24	33	-47	339
35th	RSA	4062	Jonathan Heathcote	34	-43	30	34	-50	38	26	26	38	41	342
36th	IRL	3592	Rory Fitzpatrick	-50	40	38	26	25	-46	46	25	40	24	354
37th	FRA	3972	Yann Andrillon	35	38	42	42	44	-55	11	33	(DNC)	32	360
38th	NZL	4037	Jason Russell	32	32	-48	-53	46	27	48	42	28	30	364
39th	ITA	41	Stefano Ferrighi	24	15	16	45	21	56	35	(DNF)	(DNC)	DNC	365
40th	ESP	3975	Pablo Arandia	25	35	44	25	(DNC)	(DNC)	32	34	42	54	373
41st	GBR	3943	Richard Edwards	43	-59	32	46	32	34	-62	56	35	40	378
42nd	NED	4074	Eelco Boers	45	42	47	-49	48	-54	37	23	22	13	378
43rd	GBR	4075	Doug Pybus	36	48	31	22	31	-61	49	41	47	-58	395
44th	AUS	4034	Luke Molloy	46	22	20	33	49	45	-56	43	45	-51	396
45th	IRL	3805	Ryan Seaton	39	-66	24	-55	52	29	47	47	34	44	401
46th	GBR	4067	Cameron Stewart	41	50	-66	54	28	35	-64	31	44	35	404
47th	GBR	4099	Ricky Tagg	20	19	28	(DNC)	(DNC)	DNC	14	DNS	DNC	DNC	407
48th	SUI	3752	David Holenweg	47	30	40	51	-55	-58	41	46	41	37	411
49th	ITA	4030	Marco Lanulfi	48	-63	33	41	-59	51	59	27	36	46	425
50th	FRA	3875	Benoit Marie	44	44	-58	-63	43	25	45	48	50	36	444
51st	GBR	4060	Neil Baker	54	47	-55	47	51	-57	42	39	49	33	464
52nd	SUI	4032	Jean-Pierre de Siebenthal	26	45	51	29	56	41	(DNC)	(DNC)	DNC	DNC	467
53rd	AUS	3637	Brent Pearson	-62	49	-53	52	40	49	36	53	48	42	476
54th	GBR	4061	John Pink	53	36	50	36	34	32	(DNC)	(DNC)	DNC	DNC	476
55th	GBR	4115	David Hivey	58	56	35	60	54	(DNC)	39	57	30	(DNC)	479
56th	ITA	3855	Fabio Mazzetti	-64	61	54	50	45	52	-65	54	46	57	494
57th	AUS	4004	Will Logan	57	54	57	31	-62	-62	50	36	51	55	497
58th	GBR	4045	Matt Ponsford	37	60	39	40	58	50	66	(DNC)	(DNC)	DNC	507
59th	GBR	4071	Phillippe Oligario	-63	39	61	58	-63	53	40	58	55	39	507
60th	GBR	4121	James Phare	52	58	52	57	47	-63	55	-62	53	48	512
61st	GER	3684	Sven Kloppenburg	(4 P)	2 P	60	-64	42	42	52	52	54	38	529.2
62nd	GBR	4158	Geoff Carveth	-66	51	56	56	-61	47	60	55	56	52	542
63rd	NED	4023	Kalle Coster	59	53	59	-65	29	44	-63	63	52	59	543
64th	FRA	3879	Pierre Blanc	-65	46	64	59	60	48	58	49	58	(DNC)	558
65th	GBR	3980	Graham Simmonds	(DNC)	55	62	61	-65	60	54	60	60	56	575
66th	AUS	3631	John Genders	-67	64	-67	67	64	64	53	51	57	53	592
67th	GBR	3979	Jeremy Hartley	60	57	65	62	53	43	67	61	(DNC)	(DNC)	594
68th	GBR	3995	David Simmonds	61	-67	63	-66	66	65	57	59	59	50	597
69th	GBR	3981	Simon Reynolds	(DNC)	(DNC)	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	43	44	DNC	DNC	632
70th	GBR	4073	Richard Westbury	56	65	(DNC)	(DNC)	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	659

Silver Fleet

Pos	Nation	Sail No	Helm	F1	F2	F3	F4	F5	F6	F7	F8	F9	Pts
1st	SUI	4144	Fabien Froesch	24	5	3	2	13	13	3	3	3	125
2nd	GBR	3795	Stefan Gieser	8	7	2	6	10	9	21	10	1	134
3rd	NZL	4124	Glen Read	2	10	1	19	21	1	2	15	10	145
4th	AUS	3905	Phil Stevenson	3	17	10	11	11	3	5	7	25	161
5th	GBR	3945	Matthew Lea	13	4	17	8	4	10	12	12	5	162
6th	GBR	4072	Thomas Lambert	4	1	7	26	26	7	18	30	11	181
7th	USA	4066	Dylan DiMarchi	10	9	8	7	5	14	DNE	6	2	192
8th	SUI	3798	Philippe Schiller	26	19	26	10	18	11	8	11	18	206
9th	GBR	3830	John Clifton	22	12	35	13	9	-37	13	8	4	209
10th	GBR	4050	Leigh Albrecht	(DNC)	(DNC)	DNC	1	1	5	1	2	6	212
11th	GBR	4041	Andrew Blee	27	6	9	18	12	27	11	24	20	214
12th	SUI	3729	Philip Kaeserman	1	2	30	14	6	8	DNE	1	23	219
13th	SUI	3836	Adriano Petrino	21	27	6	4	15	15	(BFD)	5	24	224
14th	GBR	3704	Mark Dell	12	28	4	9	29	2	4	(DNC)	16	238
15th	GER	3843	Carlo Maege	20	18	12	25	31	23	6	-45	9	238
16th	GBR	3756	James Sainsbury	11	26	5	28	22	28	32	16	22	242
17th	IRL	3861	Annalise Murphy	17	39	37	3	24	12	17	19	8	246
18th	IRL	3889	Alistair Kissane	14	25	(DNC)	23	19	18	7	17	32	249
19th	GBR	3802	Neale Jones	9	13	31	33	28	20	16	14	7	259
20th	SUI	3820	Caspar Buettner	25	32	20	12	16	17	25	13	15	260
21st	GBR	3632	Martin Fear	23	22	32	27	3	43	9	4	21	267
22nd	GBR	3715	Chris Jeeves	15	14	23	24	33	4	15	35	44	273
23rd	NED	3849	Constantijn Weber	7	23	(DNC)	16	17	40	27	23	33	276
24th	GBR	3917	Dan Ellis	31	15	24	20	8	29	22	21	17	276
25th	GBR	3939	Matthew Stark	30	24	19	-38	7	19	38	31	38	300
26th	GBR	3787	Jono Pank	38	33	22	15	27	21	19	9	26	301
27th	IRL	4206	John Chambers	33	8	21	21	(OCS)	24	24	28	31	319
28th	POL	3842	Michal Domanski	34	36	11	(DNC)	42	6	14	32	14	325
29th	GBR	3922	Kyle Stoneham	(DNF)	40	DNC	5	2	OCS	10	20	12	341
30th	GBR	3730	Jonathan Peats	16	49	45	40	23	31	20	22	13	342
31st	GBR	3941	Miles Burrage	18	35	34	30	14	25	26	38	36	346
32nd	GBR	4044	Dominic Hutton	29	20	14	31	25	26	36	49	34	348
33rd	GBR	4106	Jamie Morgan	35	44	44	17	20	39	23	18	30	367
34th	GBR	3834	Chris Clarke	(DNC)	-55	28	29	32	22	28	29	28	369
35th	GBR	3910	Matthew Bergmann Smith	32	21	16	34	34	30	30	47	37	374
36th	GBR	3604	Katherine Knight	28	29	29	37	39	16	31	34	42	379
37th	GBR	4100	Alex Koukourakis	(DNC)	31	36	32	49	42	DNE	26	19	385
38th	DEN	3601	Hans Rasmussen	39	30	41	39	44	35	29	25	29	399
39th	DEN	3914	Ole Frey	43	38	25	36	35	33	37	36	43	410
40th	GBR	3613	James Thomas	50	16	33	54	37	34	41	43	27	418
41st	GBR	3880	Dave Smithwhite	36	-53	43	22	36	36	39	33	(DNC)	422
42nd	GBR	4043	Paul Hayden	5	3	13	(DNC)	(DNC)	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	425
43rd	GBR	3759	Nic Streatfeild	44	50	27	35	43	44	33	27	(DNC)	433
44th	GBR	3928	Rob Cage	40	45	38	47	40	47	45	44	35	476
45th	JPN	4137	Wakako Tabata	42	42	48	45	46	38	40	40	40	487
46th	GBR	4162	Steve McLean	46	51	39	49	53	46	34	37	46	498
47th	GBR	3192	Jamie Pearson	49	54	(DNC)	42	38	45	42	41	41	516
48th	GBR	4207	Joseph Wellerd	45	47	40	41	45	50	44	42	39	524
49th	GER	3381	Burhard Staabs	(DNC)	41	18	44	41	49	43	48	DNC	526
50th	GBR	3881	Diederik Bulters	19	34	42	46	30	32	DNC	DNC	DNC	534
51st	SUI	3599	Tristan Mathez-Loic	47	46	49	50	48	(DNC)	35	46	47	535
52nd	GBR	3946	Paul Beard	6	11	15	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	538
53rd	BEL	3915	Quentin Blondiau	37	37	(DNC)	48	DNC	DNC	DNE	39	45	572
54th	GBR	3924	Jon Bennett	41	48	(DNC)	43	47	41	(DNC)	DNC	DNC	573
55th	GBR	3766	Jordan Woods	48	43	(DNC)	53	52	48	46	DNC	DNC	600
56th	GBR	3668	Patrick Cunningham	51	52	46	51	50	51	(DNC)	DNC	DNC	603
57th	GBR	3131	Guy Stewart Raynes	52	57	47	52	51	52	DNC	DNC	DNC	631
58th	GBR	3870	Eddie Gatehouse	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	719
59th	GBR	4150	Ian Southworth	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	726
60th	ITA	3789	Andrea Biagioni	(DNC)	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	726
61st	GBR	4151	David Chisholm	DNF	58	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	738
62nd	GER	3088	Jens Schoenberg	DNC	56	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	748
63rd	ARG	4167	Matias Gainze Eurnekian	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	761
63rd	USA	4086	Zack Downing	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	761
63rd	DEN	3978	Soren Buhl	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	761
63rd	ARG	4168	Daniel Pierrard	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	761
63rd	GBR	4098	Danny Clark	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	761
63rd	ARG	4170	Franco Greggi	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	761