New Zealand's Peter Burling also moved quickly hitting 27.7 knots. However he suffered two stacks in the last race which cost him the chance for another triple bullet day and sustained a minor injury after his foil came down on his back. Joe Turner(AUS) swooped in for the win and enters the finals in third. Scott Babbage (AUS) was almost too consistent, failing to cover Outteridge in the final downwind of Race 9, and earning straight seconds for the day putting him fourth overall.

2009 Moth World Champion Bora Gulari (USA) wasn't quite on the pace in the first race of the day but closed the day with two seconds to jump up to 11th place. And fellow American Bradley Funk (USA), who got off to a rocky start with fleet mix-ups and an OCS, grows more consistent and holds onto ninth place.

Standout performances were made by Arnaud Psarofaghis (SUI) and Andrew Budgeon (GBR) who lead the European contingent. 2010 Moth World Champion Simon Payne (GBR) clings to 19th and there was a damage-free day for Charlie Mckee and the Wing-sail, now in 21st.

There's a tight battle for leading lady with Samantha England (AUS),Emma Aspington (SWE) and Lindsay Bergan (USA) all qualifying for Gold with 51, 52 and 53 points, respectively.

Fortunately most of the fleet survived the day unscathed, and event sponsors SP-High Modulus, who have offered free carbon for repairs during the event, can hang on to their supply for another day.

The top 55 proceed to Gold Fleet, with 54 sailors making up Silver. Sailors carry over their rank from the Qualifying Series as points into the three day Final Series (e.g. Nathan Outteridge starts with 1 point, Burling with 2, etc) starting tomorrow. After a lay-day on Wednesday 12 January, racing will conclude on Friday 14 January.

For full results for the Qualifying Series, please refer to the link:
http://www.mothworlds.org/belmont/results/

All the action can be followed at www.mothworlds.org including race updates, news, results, daily video highlights and excellent imagery from Thierry Martinez.