Acton Belle Property International Moth Worlds 2026 at Mounts Bay Sailing Club - Day 1
by Sail-World.com and Down Under Sail 6 Nov 05:40 PST
6-12 November 2026
The Fremantle Doctor left it until late in the day to appear, but when it did come in there was a superb breeze for the foilers to knock in three great races.
This Worlds is being shared with the lowriders, bringing the two fleets together for the first time as the 'classic' Moth fleet has gone from strength to strength in recent years.
With a gradient breeze mid-afternoon the lowriders went out when the foilers couldn't and enjoyed two races in the shifty conditions in the Swan River with Brit Paul Hignet coming out on top in both ahead of Australia's Ben Lawrie.
The Doctor eventually arrived and the foilers hit the water for three races late in the day.
Defending champion Enzo Balanger from France hasn't lost any of his speed with America's Cup duties, and is tied at the top with the USA's Richard Didham.
Didham took the win in the opening race, while Balanger took the next two bullets, but every single place was being fought tooth and nail.
This was exemplified in the final races of the day, where the home nation's Ryan Littlechild and Enzo Balanger traded blows continually. Littlechild rounded the final top mark in first and went to the corner that was paying off all day, while Balanger rolled the dice, going to the one spot that was no good all day, but his gamble paid off, rolling double sixes, picking up a shift and putting 150 metres on Littlechild. The Australian sailor clawed back a bit, but had to settle for second.
Hattie Rogers is currently the top female sailor, sitting in 20th overall.
Ryan Littlechild, who sails from Woollahra Sailing Club said of the battle, "I had a good lead, but the wind was shifting. This got to me on that last work and I got overtaken and came second, but I'm feeling good for tomorrow. I sort of opened the door for him, to be honest. The bottom left wasn't really working all day, or top left, but he sort of wound into a big lefty, which we have seen, so it was my fault, but I won't make that mistake tomorrow."
He added, "I haven't been doing a lot of Moth sailing so the body's fairly sore. I'm young, so I shouldn't complain. It took me a little while to get going in the first couple of races today, but I finally banged off a good one. I'd like to get out there tomorrow and pick up where I left off."
Enzo Balanger added, "The top ten or fifteen are really close. If you miss one shift you're in fifteenth. So I had to push really hard today to get to the front of the fleet. This week will be long and really tough."
On the final race battle Enzo said, "I was the lucky guy who finished the day with a bullet. So I am really happy with this battle. I think we all are super exhausted after today."
Results after Day 1:
More Information can be found at mbsc.com.au/regattas/moth-world-championship-2026