Moth World Championship - Under assault on Kaneohe Bay + Video

by Alan Block on 20 Oct 2013 At the Moth World Championships, a surprisingly stable 6-10 knot Northerly breeze allowed for more ‘flight time’ on Friday than anyone expected, as 80 competitors from 15 nations took to the waters of Kaneohe Bay, HI for the penultimate day of the 2013 McDougall + McConaghy International Moth World Championship. Three quick races saw American Bora Gulari’s lead over second place Nathan Outerridge grow to eight points, while Scott Babbage’s third-place position is under assault from attacking English.

Southampton, UK’s Robert Greenhalgh sailed away from the fleet in races 8 and 9 on Friday, winning one race by more than 200 meters and the other by half that, winning the day and moving up to fifth place with just one day’s racing remaining.

Fellow UK Mothist Ben Paton had one of his strongest days of the regatta, moving into fourth, just one point ahead of Greenhalgh. Chris Rashley sits tied on points for sixth place with Tasmania’s Rob Gough, marking the third Englishman in the top ten. He could have easily been on the podium though; Rashley had big leads in at least two races later abandoned.

'The [English] boats are going really well out there, but it would be nice if I could have a bit better luck,' said Rashley. Greenhalgh was relaxed despite the tight battle for the podium that lay ahead for him. 'Above all else we’re here in Hawaii to have some fun, and today was great fun,' he said.

Detroit foiling phenom Bora Gulari extended his lead over Australia’s Nathan Outteridge to eight points with all discards counted, as the American took advantage of Outteridge’s foil selection mistake. 'Everything was looking really light in all the forecasts we looked at, and the big main foil I put on was looking good after Race 8,' said Outteridge.

The 27-year old racer would take second in the first, light air race of the day, and far enough ahead of Gulari to close the Championship battle to just one point. After one abandoned race and a 20-minute postponement, the wind increased to around nine knots, and Outerridge’s fate was sealed. 'I took a risk and it was the wrong call,' he said. 'Those are the tradeoffs and choosing the day’s equipment can be the most stressful part of the morning.'

Outteridge added that he hoped to get in enough racing on Saturday to have a shot at beating Gulari and taking his second Moth world title.

2013 McDougall + McConaghy International Moth World Championship Day 5 from US Moth Class on Vimeo.

Kaneohe Yacht Club Race Officer Tom Pochereva intends to hold four races to finish up the 2013 World Championship; racing begins at 12:00 Hawaii time and no race can be started after 4:00 PM.

Overall Results After 10 Races (Top 10) – Full Result

1. USA 6, Bora Gulari, [18]-1-2-1-3-3-[7]-5-3-3- ; 21
2. AUS 3997, Nathan Outteridge, 1-2-1-[10]-9-1-8-2-[13]-5- ; 29
3. AUS 2, Scott Babbage, 4-4-[27]-[24]-1-12-1-4-5-13- ; 44
4. GBR 3982, Ben Paton, [15]-3-3-15-[23]-6-3-6-2-7- ; 45
5. GBR 4047, Robert Greenhalgh, 2-7-7-9-[19]-[13]-11-1-1-8- ; 46
6. AUS 3, Rob Gough, [17]-8-13-8-8-2-4-[38]-6-1- ; 50T
7. GBR 7, Chris Rashley, 3-[35]-6-11-7-4-13-[36]-4-2- ; 50T
8. AUS 8, Julian Salter, [12]-9-8-5-2-[29]-5-3-12-11- ; 55
9. USA 3931, Brad Funk, [24/ZFP]-5-4-3-5-5-18-10-21-[23]- ; 71
10. NZL 3991, Peter Burling, [40]-28-[52]-2-10-7-6-9-11-4- ; 77

Clean Racing Tip Of The Day: As one of the world's elite racing classes, the International Moth Class believes it essential to emphasize the responsible use of energy and resources in the context of sailing. Working with 11th Hour Racing, a program of the Schmidt Family Foundation, the Moth Class has come up with a number of initiatives to help all sailing events improve the energy profile and performance of racing boats and increase the personal investment of sailors in the health of our waters. Each day, the Moth Worlds fleet will highlight a 'Clean Racing Tip' they've implemented; something that will work for regattas and racing classes around the world. Here’s today’s tip:

Lead by Example: Make sure the best sailors in the fleet — the people who everyone else looks to for tuning and strategy advice — are on board with the green program. This shows the fleet that the green message is for real, and that the values of environmental conservation are truly the values of the sport.