Nathan Outteridge (AUS) was crowned Zhik Moth World Champion today after he had another strong outing on his home shores in Lake Macquarie, Australia.
Entering the day with an 11-point lead over second place
Joe Turner (AUS),
Nathan Outteridge sailed a conservative four races to closeout a winning series.
Outteridge was never hot off the line nor leading at the top mark and in more than a few races he was surfacing around seventh in the first lap. But in all but one he was able to turn it into a top five finish over the line.
Turner won the day without winning a race. He was consistently hot on the trail of the top pack, which was all he needed for a second place finish in the Championship.
Closing the day out with a bullet was
Scott Babbage (AUS) who took third place and
Peter Burling (NZL), who carried a DNF from the first day of the finals, was able to jump two points ahead of past champions
John Harris (AUS) and
Bora Gulari (USA) for fourth place.
Tom Slingsby (AUS) had a hot and cold day, but his win in Race 8 put him just ahead of fellow Australian Rob Gough. And leading the European contingent was
Arnaud Psarofaghis (SUI) who finished tenth overall.
Samantha England (AUS) got the better of
Lindsay Bergan (USA) by one point for the title of leading lady at 47th and 48th place.
Despite the tough forecast, the race committee executed the entire scheduled series - including a total of five races for the silver fleet on the final day.
Unfortunately there were not enough hours in the day to see the return of the Wing-sail, and
Charlie Mckee (USA) was just not able to keep on pace sailing with the softer rig. The American said, "The first thing I noticed going back was how much more physically tiring [the soft sail] is."
Overall the 2011 Zhik Moth World Championship, supported by SP High Modulus, has been a huge success thanks to a multitude of volunteers and supporters.