International Moth Worlds- Rashley ahead as Aussies close in

by Mark Jardine / YachtsandYachting.com on 24 Jul 2014 The Moth Worlds fleet woke up to a glorious day at Hayling Island. The wind was blowing a steady 15 knots, the sun was shining and it was 23 degrees by 10am - perfect sailing conditions. The Gold fleet went out into Hayling Bay, while the Silver fleet headed off East to Bracklesham Bay.

Two races where held for the Gold fleet, where the Brits took a clean sweep of the podium (Chris Rashley first, Ben Paton second, Dylan Fletcher third) in the first finals race, only for the Australians to come back fighting with their own clean sweep in race 2 (Nathan Outteridge first, Rob Gough second, Josh Mcknight third).

The Silver fleet managed three races before the wind shut off, both fleets were then sent ashore. The race committee hoped to get another Gold fleet race in, but soon raised the AP over A to signal that was it for the day.

Overall, this has given Chris Rashley the outright lead after Robert Greenhalgh had a poor day by his standards to drop to fifth overall. Nathan Outteridge has moved up to second overall after a fourth and first, staying just three points off Rashley's score. Josh Mcknight has moved up to third with consistent top five results, but the big mover of the day was Ben 'The Patonator' Paton, who moved from ninth to fourth on the leaderboard with a second and a fifth today.

Nathan Outteridge (AUS 2) said, 'It was good. We finally had some breeeze, over 12 knots at times. I wasn't starting very well but I was getting the first shift in the front pack each time and got a four and a one so pretty happy with that.'

Nathan said on the #MothAshes contest between the Brits and the Aussies, 'They've (the Brits) got the home advantages so it would be embarrassing if they lost to be honest. We're just out there trying to get around the race course and not really worring about the other boats, but Rashley's sailing really well, as is Ben Paton, and Rob had a bit of a shocker today by the looks of it, so we'll just wait and see.'

Ben Paton (GBR 4), who's second and fifth places moved him up to fourth overall said of his day, 'Pretty sick mate, pretty sick. fourth overall, matches my sail number, just need to improve on that. I made sure I was on my foils at the start and I wanted to keep to the right hand side as I thought the pressure would go there and just make sure I was on the right of the fleet and tacked up on the shifts. I think I got to the windward mark second in both races. I was a bit conservative in the second race and lost a couple of points, but to come off the water with a second and fifth is pretty cool.

On the #MothAshes rivalry Ben said, 'We're going to have a head-to-head race later on hopefully so that'll be the true test. Men versus boys.'

Japanese sailor Hiroki Goto (JPN 3989), who is 16th overall, described his first day of Gold fleet racing, 'I was wanting to be in the top ten results today, but it's tough, more than doubly tough as qualification races. It is one of the most experienced and skilled fleets in the world so, regardless of the results, every moment I'm enjoying so much. I'm so proud and feel so lucky to be here, to join this fleet - amazing. I'm just hoping for more wind, more races and more fun. It's insanely tough, but at the same time it's insanely fun so I just want as many races as possible.'

Tom Offer (GBR 4038), who scored a seventh and eighth to remain in eighth overall said, 'There were big patches in the breeze in both races, keeping clear air was an important factor, especially at mark roundings. If you got to the mark in clear air it was easier to stay on the foil but if you were in a bunch of boats then it was easy to end up low riding around the mark. Also, getting a good breeze line was a big factor, it allows you to ride high all the way on a leg. However, getting a better breeze line was more by luck than anything else today, it was very patchy out there.'

Home builder Richard Edwards (GBR 3943) described the battle for the home build cup, 'One each, but shall we just say Gold fleet racing is a different ball game, the standard at the top end is stratospheric. We did all right, Phil (Oligario) got one and I got one, but I was fifth from last in one, but hey, that's what you get in the Gold fleet.'

Thomas Lambert (GBR 4072), who is second after the first day of Silver fleet racing said, 'It was very good today, the wind started off ok and then died off, but I'm quite small and suited to the lighter breeze and it went really well. It was good to get three races in, there was a point in the last race that we weren't sure whether they were going to abandon, but no, it was really good to finally get a day with three races.'

German helm Carlo Maege (GER 3843), who is currently seventh overall in the Silver fleet, described today's racing, 'Racing was very interesting because we had a few big shifts and we had different gusts on the right and left side, sometimes the left paid and sometimes the right, so it was really hard to stay near the front. I'm one of the old guys and here to have fun and I'm not only here to be on the podium.

Carlo had this to say about his compatriot, Sven Kloppenburg, who is currently leading the Silver fleet, 'Sven will be very happy to be first in the Silver fleet because yesterday he heard that there may be a possibility of the first two boats changing to the Gold fleet after the first day. He's been German champion 11 times and it's his first worlds where he hasn't been in the Gold fleet, so he was a bit disappointed after the qualifying series.'

Firefly UK Champion Jono Pank (GBR 3787), who is currently lying 32nd in Silver fleet, described his day, 'Snakes and ladders on the Silver fleet course, some foiling, some not, slam the beach and get lucky sometimes and not others. An up and down day.'

Gold Fleet Results after Finals Race 2:

Pos	Nation	Sail No	Helm	Club	Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4	Q5	F1	F2	Pts
1st	GBR	7	Chris Rashley	Royal London YC	1	2	1	1	-5	1	4	10
2nd	AUS	2	Nathan Outteridge	Wangi SC	(DNC)	3	2	2	1	4	1	13
3rd	AUS	4142	Josh Mcknight	RPAYC	3	1	3	-5	3	5	3	18
4th	GBR	4	Ben Paton	Lymington Town SC	5	3	-7	7	5	2	5	27
5th	GBR	5	Robert Greenhalgh	Royal Southern YC	-8	1	1	1	2	11	14	30
6th	AUS	6	Rob Gough	Royal YC Tasmania	1	5	7	-23	2	15	2	32
7th	AUS	3	Scott Babbage	Woollahra SC	2	2	3	4	-6	9	12	32
8th	GBR	4038	Tom Offer	Rock SC	3	8	6	3	(DNC)	7	8	35
9th	GBR	4147	Michael Lennon	HISC	-19	4	2	2	6	14	9	37
10th	GBR	4123	Dylan Fletcher	Portland Moth Squad	-12	4	8	6	9	3	10	40
11th	GBR	3967	Chris Draper	LCSC	6	-12	5	5	8	16	6	46
12th	SUI	4112	Christopher Rast	TYC/RCO/MBYC	6	5	6	15	-16	6	11	49
13th	SUI	3796	Arnaud Psarofaghis	SN Geneva	10	6	-11	7	1	10	16	50
14th	GBR	4146	Paul Goodison	Ulley SC	10	-12	5	3	4	8	24	54
15th	GBR	3942	Jason Belben	Stokes Bay SC	-12	7	4	6	4	13	23	57
16th	JPN	3989	Hiroki Goto	ABeam	4	8	-15	8	11	21	17	69
17th	USA	9	Brad Funk	US Sailing Team Sperry Top-Sider	20	-52	10	10	11	12	13	76
18th	AUS	3900	Andrew McDougall	Black Rock YC	4	6	4	-21	21	19	26	80
19th	ITA	4138	Gian Maria Ferrighi	YC Acquafrecsca	5	(DNC)	14	9	14	31	7	80
20th	GBR	4099	Ricky Tagg	HISC	11	14	9	8	(DNF)	20	19	81
21st	JPN	4095	Kohei Kajimoto	Black Rock YC	7	16	8	-22	10	17	25	83
22nd	GBR	3985	Simon Hiscocks	HISC	9	11	9	-23	9	18	33	89
23rd	ITA	4092	Carlo de Paoli	Circolo Vela Torbole	8	9	10	14	-18	27	28	96
24th	GBR	4149	Oliver Holden	HISC	-23	18	12	11	15	23	18	97
25th	GBR	4036	Dan Vincent	Stokes Bay SC	7	19	13	-34	7	42	20	108
26th	ITA	4093	Stefano Rizzi	SV Oscar Cosulich	13	7	-21	11	7	55	21	114
27th	BEL	4049	Giovanni Galeotti	RYCB	2	-11	11	9	3	22	DNC	117
28th	GBR	4155	Stevie Morrison	Exe SC	14	15	-16	15	8	40	29	121
29th	ITA	41	Stefano Ferrighi	YC Acquafresca	16	10	33	-38	23	24	15	121
30th	SWE	4159	Nils Akervall	Royal Swedish YC	9	21	15	16	(DNC)	30	31	122
31st	ESP	3975	Pablo Arandia	EMV Valencia	19	28	20	-31	15	25	35	142
32nd	NZL	4037	Jason Russell	HISC	-29	17	13	28	21	32	32	143
33rd	GBR	4059	Dan Ward	Frensham Ponds SC	15	9	-28	12	22	38	52	148
34th	SUI	4032	Jean-Pierre de Siebenthal	SN de Geneve	24	22	18	13	-44	26	45	148
35th	GBR	3947	Ed Chapman	Queen Mary SC	-29	22	21	25	13	28	41	150
36th	RSA	4062	Jonathan Heathcote	Point YC	20	13	25	-36	17	34	43	152
37th	SUI	3752	David Holenweg	CV Estavyer-le-Lac	-28	20	19	14	25	47	30	155
38th	FRA	3972	Yann Andrillon		-26	24	24	16	19	35	38	156
39th	GBR	4096	Tim Penfold	HISC	35	17	12	-39	30	29	34	157
40th	AUS	4034	Luke Molloy	RQYS	15	33	19	26	(BFD)	46	22	161
41st	GBR	3943	Richard Edwards	Parkstone YC	-25	10	22	18	10	43	59	162
42nd	FRA	4090	Seb Col	YCPR	DGA	-24	22	10	24	33	62	171
43rd	GBR	4122	Andrew Friend	Norfolk Punt Club	31	-39	36	13	14	51	27	172
44th	GBR	4065	Daniel Henderson	Stokes Bay SC	24	25	16	-30	22	49	37	173
45th	GBR	4075	Doug Pybus	Queen Mary SC	-37	32	18	4	36	36	48	174
46th	GBR	4067	Cameron Stewart	HISC	21	20	26	19	-33	41	50	177
47th	IRL	3592	Rory Fitzpatrick	National YC	28	14	30	18	-45	50	40	180
48th	GBR	4061	John Pink	Hill Head SC	-32	21	20	24	28	53	36	182
49th	GBR	4045	Matt Ponsford	HISC	22	18	-29	17	29	37	60	183
50th	NED	4074	Eelco Boers	WV Roerkoning	(DNC)	25	25	27	24	45	42	188
51st	IRL	3805	Ryan Seaton	Ballyholme YC/CSC	-33	28	17	12	28	39	66	190
52nd	ITA	4030	Marco Lanulfi	YC Acquafresca	17	13	23	31	(DNC)	48	63	195
53rd	FRA	3875	Benoit Marie	SNO Nantes	-51	26	39	32	12	44	44	197
54th	GBR	4121	James Phare	Queen Mary SC	11	-37	34	29	16	52	58	200
55th	ITA	3855	Fabio Mazzetti	Circolo Vela Arco	13	19	17	-36	26	64	61	200
56th	GBR	4060	Neil Baker	HISC	18	-39	27	37	20	54	47	203
57th	GBR	4115	David Hivey	HISC	22	27	23	-37	18	58	56	204
58th	GBR	4071	Phillippe Oligario	Worthing YC	-32	31	24	19	30	63	39	206
59th	AUS	4004	Will Logan	Royal YC Tasmania	26	23	32	-52	25	57	54	217
60th	AUS	3637	Brent Pearson	Keppel Bay SC	21	16	37	33	-38	62	49	218
61st	GBR	4158	Geoff Carveth	HISC	17	38	34	20	-39	66	51	226
62nd	FRA	3879	Pierre Blanc	CN St Jean Cap Ferrat	31	30	29	26	-37	65	46	227
63rd	GBR	3980	Graham Simmonds	HISC	39	-40	27	28	13	DNC	55	232
64th	GBR	4073	Richard Westbury	Draycote	23	34	14	-53	41	56	65	233
65th	NED	4023	Kalle Coster		35	36	-39	17	37	59	53	237
66th	GBR	3979	Jeremy Hartley	Stokes Bay SC	41	36	30	-42	19	60	57	243
67th	GBR	3995	David Simmonds	HISC	30	23	37	27	-48	61	67	245
68th	AUS	3631	John Genders	RYCT	36	35	36	-48	12	67	64	250
69th	GBR	3981	Simon Reynolds	Whitstable YC	27	29	28	35	(DNC)	DNC	DNC	259

Racing has been brought forward an hour for Thursday; Gold fleet are set to start at 10am with Silver scheduled for 10.30am.

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 Event website

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