Nathan Outteridge (AUS): World Champion 2011. Image copyright Th. Martinez/Sea&Co.
by Pat Langley
Hugs and Champagne welcome the newest Moth World Champion Nathan Outteridge (AUS) to his home shores in Lake Macquarie, Australia. Entering the day with an 11-point lead over 2nd place fellow Aussie Joe Turner, Outteridge sailed a conservative 4-races to closeout a winning series.
Almost too conservative – Outteridge was never hot off the line nor leading at the top mark. In more than a few races he was surfacing around 7th in the first lap, yet in all but one he was able to turn it into a top 5 finish over the line.
Nathan Outteridge (AUS): World Champion 2011. Image copyright Th. Martinez/Sea&Co.
Turner won the day without ever winning a race. He was consistently hot on the trail of the top pack, which was all he needed for a 2nd place finish in the Championship.
Third place was anybody’s guess, but by closing out the day with a bullet, Scott Babbage (AUS) took a decided 3rd. Kiwi Peter Burling, who carried a DNF from the first day of the Finals, was able to jump just 2 points ahead of past champions John Harris (AUS) and Bora Gulari (USA).
Tom Slingsby (AUS) had a hot and cold day, but his win in Race 8 put him just ahead of fellow Aussie Rob Gough. Arnaud Psarofaghis of Switzerland finished 10th overall, and first European.
Nathan Outteridge (AUS): World Champion 2011. Image copyright Th. Martinez/Sea&Co.
Samantha England (AUS) beat out American Lindsay Bergan by one point for the title of leading lady at 47th and 48th place.
Despite the tough forecast, the Race Committee executed the entire scheduled series – including a total of 5 races for the Silver Fleet on the final day. Unfortunately there were not enough hours in the day to see the return of the Wing-sail, and Charlie McKee (USA) was just not able to keep on pace sailing with the softer rig. “The first thing I noticed going back was how much more physically tiring [the soft sail] is!” He reports.
James Spithill was back on the water for more of the action, and the high-speed stacks at the leeward mark kept the camera crew busy. Online fans were active posting their support for their friends and family on the live Facebook feed and online results-by-race tracking.
Overall the 2011 Zhik Moth World Championship, supported by SP High Modulus was a huge success thanks to the multitude of volunteers and supporters.
Nathan Outteridge (AUS): World Champion 2011. Image copyright Th. Martinez/Sea&Co.
Gold Fleet - Final Series Results with 1 discard
Rank Skipper Code QS Pos R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 R7 R8 R9 Pts
1 Nathan Outteridge AUS 1 1 1 4 2 3 2 4 6 4 22
2 Joe Turner AUS 3 3 4 3 DNF 6 5 3 4 2 33
3 Scott Babbage AUS 4 2 8 6 10 4 6 8 2 1 41
4 Peter Burling NZL 2 14 DNF 1 11 2 1 1 7 7 46
5 John Harris AUS 8 5 2 5 3 9 8 6 8 3 48
6 Bora Gulari USA 11 4 3 7 1 13 12 2 3 6 49
7 Tom Slingsby AUS 7 10 9 2 15 47 3 12 1 9 68
8 Rob Gough AUS 6 9 7 8 17 8 4 9 10 8 69
9 Iain Jensen AUS 5 7 16 9 9 1 10 14 5 13 73
10 Arnaud Psarofaghis SUI 12 8 5 13 7 5 16 11 9 11 81
Other placings, include:
11 Andrew Budgen GBR 84pts
14 Simon Payne GBR 148pts
15 Matt Crockett AUS 150pts
17 Chris Rast USA 167pts
19 Brad Funk USA 191pts
22 Adam Beashel AUS 226pts
23 Charlie McKee USA 237pts
27 Jeremy Wilmot AUS 268pts
35 Matt Vincent NZL 294pts
37 Andrew McDougall AUS 300pts
For full fleet results visit: www.mothworlds.org
The 2011 Zhik Moth Worlds is brought to you by:
Zhik - Gear for the fast wet athlete www.zhik.com
SP High Modulus www.gurit.com/marine
NSW Department of Sport & Recreation www.dsr.nsw.gov.au
Zhik Moth Worlds 2011
