Early lead for Payne

As Zhik International Moth Nationals get underway at Skandia Geelong Week

35 starters from seven nations, including many of the top ten International Moth sailors, today lined up in Geelong’s Corio Bay for the opening day of Skandia Geelong Week and the first race in the Zhik International Moth Nationals.

Reigning Moth world champion, Sydney based John Harris, has a brand new boat but not the expectations to match. “I’m keeping my hand in rather than trying to set the world alight” he said this morning as competitors prepared for this afternoon’s invitational and opening race of the 10 race series.

For race one, which was delayed until a gusty south sou’east sea breeze settled in at 18-20 knots having peaked at 25 knots, Harris performed better than he anticipated, finishing as part of a breakaway group which included Nathan Outteridge (AUS) and Bora Gulari (USA), and was led by the UK’s Simon Payne who scored first series points with his Moth Mach 2.

Harris has intentionally optimised himself for his current 18 foot skiff campaign by “eating a few too many pies”. This has put him seven kilos above his weight last year when he won the World title at Weymouth, UK, with just three months preparation behind him, so he’s hoping for fresher conditions this week.

A past 18 foot skiff world champion, Harris only recently took charge of his new Bladerider VRX called sailingbits.com and today described the Moth Nationals competition as “world class with so many top ranked sailors and with the likes of Nathan (Outteridge), who will probably give us all a sailing lesson”.

And indeed he did. In his International Moth racing debut Outteridge blitzed the fleet with a win in the invitational race and a second in race one. An Australian 49er Olympic sailor, Outteridge promised himself after the Beijing Games he would branch out into different classes. Apart from one practice race over the course of his 12 week stint as a Moth owner, today’s opening event of the series was his first experience on a Moth start line and his combined results blew him - and his L plates - clean away.

“It will be hard to make the top ten, it’s a pretty competitive fleet,” admitted the Aussie Olympian, who is currently ranked fourth on the ISAF world standings for the 49er class and is preparing for this year’s 49er Worlds at Lake Garda, Italy, in July as well as eyeing off the next Olympic Games.

Outteridge predicts Australia’s Scott Babbage and John Harris and Switzerland’s Arnaud Psarofaghis will be the ones to beat in the high performance singlehanded racing dinghy.

It takes around 7-8 knots of breeze for the foiling Moths to lift up on their foils. The run up to today’s kick off has been promising with light morning breezes filling in just after lunch thanks to a consistent 18-20 knot sea breeze. Outteridge is hoping for somewhere between 12 and 18 knots for an unfamiliar class of boat he describes as “pretty unstable” for those learning the ins and outs.

“The speed difference between the good guys and those out of control can be as much as five knots. You really need good technique, particularly sailing at the extremes. I’m still learning my way,” he acknowledged this morning, prior to sending out a contradictory warning to his fellow mothies.

The majority of the Nationals fleet are foiling Moths including the latest design, the Mach 2, but there are still a few traditional scow Moths (original Moth design, no foils, no wings & a square bow) on the entry list, including one that is 45 years old.

The different designs complete a different number of laps and to score them, it’s “a Bathurst type finish” explains Royal Geelong Yacht Club sailing administrator Rob Hampshire. “First past the post is the winner then they count the number of laps that the rest have done and sort out the finishing order that way.”

From tomorrow, Wednesday 21st January, the first race of the day for the Zhik International Moth Nationals will start at 100hrs followed by a second start at 1400hrs and a third immediately following. Thursday is a layday with two races scheduled for Saturday and the closing race 10 on Sunday prior the trophy presentation.

The forecast for Wednesday is for southwesterly winds 10 to 15 knots and by Friday afternoon Harris’ deliberate bulking up to suit the 18s may again prove a bonus with west to north westerly 10 to 15 knots becoming north westerly 10 to 20 knots during the afternoon.