Rob Gough of Royal Yacht Club Tasmania clinches lead on Day 3: 2012 Australian Moth National Titles
Third day of 2012 Australian Moth National Titles sponsored by KA Sails saw another exciting day of superb sailing under tricky wind conditions. Local hero, Rob Gough on his moth boat, Altitude, was able to clinch the overall fleet lead with eight points
during his run on third day of the championship as he showed some convincing performances on Australian waters.
The Moth Nationals fleet saw some outstanding weather conditions on Day 3 as there were higher waves with more speed in the breeze. The day started with a westerly breeze blowing from 15 to 20 knots, which was an ideal situation to complete proceedings.
The first race of the day began under these favourable winds gusting over the racing area from 15 to 20 knots with waves that are approximately 1-1.5m high. Australia’s Scott Babbage put up an excellent show with impressive sailing techniques and proved
how good he is in adapting to sailing, especially under such conditions.
Babbage finished on top in Race 1 followed by Rob Gough on second podium finish, while Woollahra sailor, Phil Kurts, secured third position.
The winds became stronger in the second race and started wafting around with a 20 knots speed. Despite tougher winds, the fleet continued the race and successfully completed it. Rob Gough came up strongly in the second race, the overall sixth race of the
event, and took advantage of the forecast to claim the first place and hit the leading position in the fleet.
Babbage, with his first and fourth finish in both races, made his way to the second podium place with 11 points followed by Nathan Outteridge on third after compiling 14 points.
Top 10 standings at the conclusion of Day 3:
1. 6 AUS8 Altitude, Rob Gough, RYC Tasmania 1, 2, 1, 3, 1, (5) = 8 points
2. 7 AUS3 7 Scott Babbage, Woollahra SC 4, 1, 2, (4) 3, 1 = 11 points
3. 42 AUS1 WMD, Nathan Outteridge, RSIS, WSC 2, (12) 3, 2, 4, 3 = 14 points
4. 1 AUS2 Zhik Moth, Joe Turner, Woollahra SC 5, 4, 4, 5, (10) 6 = 24 points
5. 41 NZL4 1 Peter Burling, Tarranga 1S, 3, (10) 7, 1, 5, 9 = 25 points
6. 2 AUS3900 NoNa Andrew McDougall, Black Rock YC 6, 6, 5, 6, 2, (8) = 25 points
7. 24 AUS3719 The Box, Phillip Kurts, Woollahra SC (10) 3, 6, 8, 8, 4 = 29 points
8. 36 AUS3776 Flying Hellfish, Joshusa McKnight, Woollahra SC 7, 5, 9, (9) 7, 2 = 30 points
9. 9 GRB3769 Flying Banana, Andrew Budgen, England 11, (13) 11, 7, 9, 11 = 49 points
10. 22 AUS3631 RAG Racing, Julian Salter, Tasmania 9, 9, (27) 13, 6, 14 = 51 points
Tags: