2010 PUMA Moth Worlds - Day Seven Report

by Brigid Murphy on 15 Mar 2010 2010 PUMA Moth Worlds - drama on the last day, with late podium changes. The 2010 Moth World Championships were not decided until the 14th and final race. Full news and results here.

The Race Committee was forced with an early onshore postponement for lack of wind. After a morning on shore, the breeze in Dubai filled in nicely to get Race 13 off at 12:45 local with a reported wind of 11 knots.

Simon Payne led the fleet going into the day. Being the last day of racing, with everything on the line, we saw an aggressive start from the fleet; it appeared that a slew of boats could have been over but only one recorded OCS.

Day seven showed the fleet the biggest breeze of the event. Bora Gulari (2009 World Champion, USA) won the pin at the start, showing he still has what it takes. Gulari’s start resulted in him winning the first race of the day. Simon Payne (GBR) had a disappointing first race, opening the narrow gap for Brad Funk (USA) or Andrew McDougall (AUS) to make something happen in the final race, Race 14. Going into race 14 with a bad race, Payne felt the pressure. 'When it dawned on me that I hadn't actually won, I put the hammer down' said Payne

Race 14 brought a steady 10 knots of breeze. Fighting a battle for the top spot, Payne was able to stay in the top five, clinching the 2010 PUMA Moth World Championship. Payne’s victory was more than he expected from the event; 'I didn't think I had a chance here, I just came to see my mates.'

McDougall, with his experience, knew what he needed to accomplish to bump him into the number two spot. Winning race 14, McDougall put six boats in between himself and Brad Funk, who was second on the leader board. 'In many races I made small mistakes,' sail McDougall, 'but in the last one I put it all together, I knew I had to get a first in the last race to break the tie with Brad.' The distance was enough to create a tie at 42 points, and having won the final race McDougall won the tiebreaker with five first place finishes in the regatta.

'As a Laser sailor the Moth is the most exciting class to jump into,' said Funk. 'You can sail the Moth for a lifetime and never get it all perfected, there are just so many little things you can change and tweak.' Funk, who is relatively new to the Moth class improved on his 2009 eighth place world finish.

PRO David Campbell-James has been impressed and challenged by the Moth class. 'The grand prix style racing was fantastic and exciting,' said Campbell-James. 'The difference in speed between the boats creates a challenge as how to be a good PRO and create fair racing for all. I have been impressed with our gracious host the Dubai Offshore Sailing Club and all they have organized here for us and all the sailors, including a slew of volunteers.'

							Tot	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	R8	R9	R10	R11	R12	R13	R14
1	GBR5	Mach 2	Masters	UK	Simon Payne	M	33	5	2	1	41	3	4	3	1	3	2	2	2	10	5
2	AUS3380	Mach 2	Masters	AUS	Andrew McDougall	M	42	1	1	11	2	13	8	11	2	1	4	1	4	6	1
3	USA3451	Mach 2	Open	USA	Brad Funk	M	42	3	11	10	1	1	3	2	5	5	1	13	1	3	7
4	SUI3	Mach 2	Open	SUI	Arnaud Psarofaghis	M	58	17	9	3	3	2	6	1	3	2	6	17	15	5	3
5	USA4	Mach 2	Open	USA	Dalton Bergan	M	59	10	20	4	4	4	1	4	8	6	5	7	14	2	4
6	USA1	Mach 2	Open	USA	Bora Gulari	M	71	12	10	2	7	6	5	5	4	10	7	16	20	1	2
7	AUS7	Mach 2	Open	AUS	Scott Babbage	M	73	8	4	9	5	10	2	9	6	44	3	8	7	4	8
8	GBR3708	Mach 2	Open	GBR	Michael Lennon	M	74	2	8	8	6	8	9	10	7	4	9	3	3	7	16
9	UAE3679	Mach2	Open	UAE	Chris Graham	M	86	4	7	7	10	5	7	7	14	7	15	12	6	8	6
10	GBR3604	Mach 2	Open	GBR	Adam May	M	118	6	5	6	16	9	14	18	13	15	10	6	9	11	14
11	SLO3712	Mach 2	Open	SVN	Tomaz Copi	M	124	7	3	41	11	19	10	19	10	9	14	10	5	13	13
12	AUS9	Mach 2	Open	AUS	Rob Gough	M	134	11	18	12	12	12	12	8	11	14	12	4	11	18	15
13	GBR3594	Mach 2	Open	GBR	Ricky Tagg	M	151	9	17	15	13	14	11	13	43	19	42	11	10	9	10
14	SUI3392	Mach 2	Masters	SUI	Jean-Pierre Ziegert	M	164	19	16	13	9	7	19	15	17	17	8	19	23	12	12
15	SIN3700	Mach 2	Open	SGP	Mark Robinson	M	165	16	23	5	14	11	15	6	15	20	24	14	31	15	11
16	USA3683	Mach 2	Open	USA	Zack Maxam	M	167	14	15	14	15	16	17	14	12	16	18	5	12	17	18
17	USA3615	Mach 2	Open	USA	George Peet	M	180	23	14	16	18	17	18	26	9	11	11	9	8	44	44
18	SUI3623	Mach 2	Open	SUI	Mikis Psarofaghis	M	186	15	28	20	19	15	16	16	16	8	13	15	18	16	19
19	SWE3666	Mach 2	Masters	SWE	Martin Gravare	M	196	13	19	44	8	18	13	12	44	21	17	18	28	20	9
20	GBR4082	Full Force	Open	GBR	Alex Adams	M	215	18	24	17	17	21	20	17	18	18	16	20	13	21	20
21	SIN3711	Bladerider	Open	AUS	James Cole	M	224	21	6	21	20	25	21	21	19	12	22	22	17	22	22
22	UAE3680	Mach 2	Open	UAE	Glenn Raphael	M	258	35	35	18	21	22	29	25	23	26	20	24	19	14	17
23	UAE3276	Bladerider	Junior	UAE	Alex Buerger	M	263	22	12	24	28	23	27	22	22	13	21	23	30	26	39
24	GBR3607	Mach 2	Open		Tim Penfold	M	267	38	42	19	33	20	22	27	20	22	19	21	16	24	24
25	UAE3231	Bladerider	Junior	UAE	Marcel Herrera	M	283	24	13	26	22	26	23	20	25	24	23	33	24	37	44
26	GBR3632	Mach 2	Open	GBR	Paul Hayden	M	287	20	22	23	24	27	30	29	21	23	28	27	22	23	27
27	SWE3125	Bladerider	Women	SWE	Emma Aspington	F	322	29	30	28	27	33	25	23	30	25	44	25	21	31	28
28	GBR3713	Mach 2	Open	GBR	James Phare	M	325	26	21	41	23	24	24	24	43	44	42	31	29	19	21
29	AUS3262	Prowler Zero	Open	AUS	Ben Crocker	M	333	32	27	25	29	28	28	31	24	29	32	34	34	25	23
30	UAE3300	Bladerider	Women	UAE	Kerstin Sommer	F	333	28	25	29	30	30	26	28	31	32	27	42	26	28	25
31	GBR3335	Bladerider	Junior	GBR	Dougie Imrie	M	343	27	26	41	26	31	34	33	29	27	26	30	25	30	33
32	UAE3357	Bladerider	Open	UAE	Simon Savage	M	363	33	36	22	25	34	31	34	32	30	29	26	35	32	37
33	SWE3279	Bladerider	Masters	SWE	Magnus Gravare	M	379	36	33	30	32	29	36	37	27	34	44	28	33	27	34
34	UAE3647	Assassin	Open	UAE	Rob Fordyce	M	385	30	29	31	35	35	32	32	28	31	31	36	36	38	35
35	USA3592	Mach 2	Women	USA	Lindsey Bergan	F	391	25	44	44	44	44	44	44	26	28	25	29	27	29	26
36	HKG3672	Mach 2	Open	HKG	Dion Houghton	M	396	34	32	27	31	36	37	38	43	35	30	32	39	34	30
37	GBR3431	Bladerider X8	Masters	UK	Richard Davies	M	411	39	34	34	37	37	35	35	33	36	34	35	32	44	29
38	UAE3665	Fastacraft	Masters	UAE	Marc Bruegger	M	420	31	37	33	34	39	39	39	36	33	36	39	38	33	31
39	SWE3140	Bladerider X8	Masters	SWE	Per Eskilson	M	433	40	42	36	36	38	38	30	35	38	35	38	37	36	36
40	CHN3637	Mach 2	Open	CHN	Dirk Weiblen	M	456	42	38	37	38	41	41	41	34	37	33	37	40	39	44
41	GBR3495	Bladerider	Open	GBR	Jonathan Peats	M	457	41	42	35	44	40	40	40	37	39	37	40	41	35	32
42	SUI3250	Bladerider	Open	SUI	Philip Kasermann	M	460	37	31	32	39	32	33	36	44	44	44	44	44	44	44
43	UAE3278	Bladerider	Masters	UAE	Jeroen Leenen	M	526	44	44	44	44	43	44	44	43	44	44	44	44	44	44

Moth Worlds 2011 will be held in Belmont Bay, Lake Macquarie NSW Australia in February 2011.

PUMA became involved with the Moth Class during the Volvo Ocean Race 2008-2009, having PUMA branded Moths sailed in port during each of the eleven stopovers around the world. During the adventure around the world, PUMA's Moths were sailed by ISAF Rolex Sailor of the Year Anna Tunicliffe, US Laser sailor Brad Funk, former Moth World Champion Rohan Veal and Swiss Moth sailor Arnaud Psarofaghis. Both the Moth Class and PUMA bring a new enthusiasm to sailing, attracting top sailors and non-sailing spectators.