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Defending World Champion Mark THORPE maintains the speed that has seen him remain at the forefront of the class for almost a decade. With two first places, Thorpe leads current Australian Champion Rohan VEAL who scored a second and a third in the predominantly light conditions. In third place is Les THORPE, younger brother of Mark and runner-up in successive Australian Championships.

Veal also demonstrated the potential of his centreboard mounted hydrofoil configuration, taking out the practice race on Sunday by a large margin before reverting to a conventional configuration for the first two races. Veal's onboard GPS clocked over 18 knots of boat speed in the weekend's moderate conditions.

The International Moth is one of only a few internationally recognised development dinghy classes. Over 75 years of development have seen the Moth's performance far outstrip its size. Thorpe's "Hungry Tiger" design has set the pace for several years, with his latest boats weighing in around 26-30kgs fully rigged. Despite hydrofoil challengers in both 2000 and 2003, the "Hungry Tiger" appears to remain at the top of the pack.

Competitors from Britain, Japan, Germany, Switzerland, France, Denmark, The Netherlands and Australia have made their way to Les Sables d'Olonne for the week-long championship. The 10 race series concludes on Saturday.

Rohan VEAL © Event Media

For more information visit the International Moth Class Association at the address below.