Paul
Goodison (GBR) smashes it on the final day of racing at the 2017
McDougall + McConaghy Moth Worlds at Lake Garda against the hottest
fleet of Moths ever assembled. Goody (to his friends), is the first
foiling Moth sailor to win back to back world titles and the result is
that much more special considering the high calibre of competition from
the most recent top Americas Cup skippers and sailors with more Olympic
medals around their necks than any other regatta with exception of the
Olympic Games itself!
Going
into the final day of racing Goodison begun the day with a 13 point
cushion over Pete Burling (NZL) with Iain ‘Goobs’ Jensen with an outside
chance of catching Burling.
The
weather gods turned it on again for the final day of racing when a
light ‘Ora’ started to build from the South around lunchtime and any
fluffy little clouds dispersed to leave another fine sunny afternoon for
racing.
The
Gold fleet was sent out around 1330hrs to race on the South course to
complete as many races as possible before the cut off time of 1600hrs.
Race 9 of the championship started under the black flag in 12 - 14 knots
of breeze with flat water. As usual, the aim was to charge to the
Eastern shore and before hitting the rocks in front of the Fraglia Vela
Malcesine clubhouse, tack and try to find a clean lane of pressure to
get to the top of the course in good shape.
At
the windward gates, the breeze was quite soft causing a number of boats
to drop off the foils, especially if squeezing round the marks. On the
first lap, it was Scott Babbage (AUS) leading, followed by the young
gun, Gian Ferrighi (ITA) with most of the big names in the top 10. The
downwind leg proved a bit more shifty and the pack shuffled. It was Tom
Slingsby (AUS) who stayed in the best pressure to take the win from
Nathan Outteridge (AUS) with Rob Greenhalgh (GBR) third, Burling 5th and
Jensen 6th.
PRO
Tim Hancock did a good job of setting up for race 10 under the same
conditions. Started under a black flag it was a similar story with
slightly different players. The breeze shifted a bit right and begun to
drop at the top end causing some competitors to drop off the foils.
At
the bottom gate, the action started to unfold, Jensen got round just in
front of Slingsby but Slingers dropped off the foils bang in front of
Outteridge and Babbage allowing Goodison to slide past inside avoiding
the low riders. Burling was also in trouble rounding the opposite gate
and dropping off the foils. Greenhalgh was also in a world of pain.
Coming
into the finish it was Jensen who crossed the line with a massive lead
and a big smile on his face as he closed up the points to second placed
Burling to one point. Second was Goodison to all but seal the title.
Many competitors had fallen off the foils in the soft patches around the
course. Singsby crossed third but Burling was deep in the pack.
With
time running out and the breeze getting a bit weak, the PRO announced
that the third race of the day, race 11 of the world championship would
be the last. The last race would be victory laps for Paul Goodison but
the chase for second and third place would be decided on the last race
between Burling and Jensen.
The
last race started in the same light to moderate breeze, 11 - 13 knots
from 215 degrees. Again the fleet used the clubhouse shoreline for a
flyby in front of the grandstand of supporters. This time it was Tom
Slingsby who looked like he had made the right foil choice leading the
world champion elect with some of the usual suspects struggling with
foil selection. Slingsby cruised across the finish line for a second win
of the day with the victorious Goodison crossing in second.
A
good third for West Australian, Steve Thomas, Babbage finished a
consistent 4th and Jensen in 5th finishing comfortably ahead of his
skipper of so many years, Nathan Outteridge. As Burling crossed in a
lowly 17th, supporters scrambled for their calculators to do the maths.
Agonisingly
for Goobs Jensen he fell one point short of toppling the kiwi but was
very happy with his third place overall. With Slingsby’s final day score
of 1,3,1 he held on to 4th and Scott Babbage came back from the brink
early in the regatta to snatch 5th off Nathan Outteridge.
The
Youth category went down to the wire on the final day with a fine
battle between the two Italian twins Gian Marie and Stefano Ferrighi.
With an 8th in the final race on Saturday and a 9th today (Sunday),
Stefano stole the title from his brother by 3 places. Stefano finished
23rd overall an excellent performance in a fleet of champions.
The
Master's category swung between Jason Belben (GBR) and Rob Gough (AUS)
and a similar tussle played out. Rob Gough won this one finishing 25th
overall to Jason Belben’s 28th.
First in the female category went to Irish Olympian Annalise Murphy who finished 51 in the Gold group.
The Silver group was won by John Clifton (GBR) and the Bronze group won by Maximilian Mage of Germany.
PRO
Tim Hancock and his team did a great job getting through so many races
for a fleet of 220 Moths, the biggest Moth regatta ever assembled.
A
bit shout out to the two Moth workshops running the Moth hospital to
keep sailors out there on the water doing what they do. The legend that
is Simon Shaw and his team at event title sponsor, McDougall + McConaghy
and Simon Maguire and his dad Tony did an amazing job behind the
scenes.
Also
a huge thank you to Fraglia Vela Malcesine, host club for their race
management, hospitality and the pasta that has kept over 200 mothies
racing for a week.
Of
course, it goes without saying that the regatta only took place due to
the support of great sponsors and suppliers such as McDougall +
McConaghy, Veneri, Zhik and Negrinautica and a long list of Fraglia Vela
Malcesine local sponsors.
The
2018 Moth Worlds will take place in Bermuda and we hope to see
everybody there for more high octane action in this incredible class.
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