Nathan Outteridge wins Moth US National Championship

5:53 AM Sat 8 Aug 2009 GMT

'Nathan Outteridge (AUS), Bladerider (3456). Moth US National Championship' ThMartinez &copy

Competitors in the 2009 International Moth US National Championship were done racing and off the water by 1:30pm today, eager to either fix or prevent further breakages after a windy, shifty seven-race series sailed at Cascade Locks, Oregon (USA), over the past two days.

The Australian contingent flanked the top of the fleet, with Nathan Outteridge (AUS) taking first place, with 14 points; Bora Gulari (USA), second with 17 points; Scott Babbage (AUS) third with 25 points; Arnaud Psarofaghis (SUI), fourth with 33 points; Rohan Veal (AUS), fifth with 37 points, and Rob Gough (AUS) in sixth with 40 points.

American sailors capped out the top ten with Dalton Bergen taking seventh place, 46 points; Brad Funk in eighth, 60 points; Charlie McKee took ninth, 60 points; and George Peet tenth, 69 points.

Conditions both days saw breezes in the high teens, with gusts to 24 mph, heavy cloud overhead and cold, not the typical summer Gorge conditions anticipated by the fleet. For many of the sailors the regatta was an opportunity to shake out the kinks and get mentally prepared for the 2009 CST Composites Moth World Championships, which begin on Monday at the same venue. Capsizes and carnage marked the course, and a fair number of boats retired throughout the two days to deal with equipment repairs.

Outteridge is enjoying the advantage of having recently had plenty of top competition level sailing, winning the 49er Worlds in Italy last month.

'I've been sailing well and haven't broken anything all week and I think that's probably one of the main reasons I'm in the top three,' he said. 'What's been working for me is sailing tactically. I'm used to sailing in shifty winds back home in Sydney and on Lake Macquarie, and I've been doing a fair bit of racing lately so I've got my head in the game of being on the shifts and not pushing the boat too hard. Even though I had plenty of swims during the week training, I think most of my game has been concentrating on my shifts.'

Outteridge is racing a Bladerider VRX, with a CST Nanospar and North V8 sail.

Not far behind, and chasing the Aussie at every opportunity, Gulari admitted to feeling a little nervous heading into this week's regatta, which put him off his starts. 'I didn't have good starts so didn't have a good first part of the race but settled down and got back into the fleet which felt good but I'm glad it wasn't the Worlds,' he said. 'The most challenging aspect has been having good starts. I've just been out of position a few times and struggling trying to deal with boat issues versus focusing on the racecourse. It feel great to shake the cobwebs off and go racing. When I'm behind somehow I forget about everything and my boat handling becomes a lot better, I have a little fire and want to get back up there.'

Gulari, racing a Mach 2, thought some competitors pulled up shy in the regatta because they were worried about 'keeping their kit together'. He felt lucky that while he's been pushing his gear pretty hard, he seems to have sorted out all his boat issues and looks forward to battling on the water with Outteridge next week, 'It seemed like we were going round the race track constantly with each other. He's a great guy and it's fun to duke it out all the way around the track and I just want to keep pressuring him!'

Outtridge predicts that next week's outcome during the Worlds will depend largely on competitor consistency and weather. 'Bora's going fast and when he sails well he's always in the top three,' he said. 'Scott (Babbage) is doing well, he had a few breakages but in every other race he was also in the top three.

Rohan Veal won a few heats, so there's a group that can win races. Any of the Americans here can also do well, it's just a matter of how consistently they sail, and at the end of the day I think it'll be someone who doesn't make mistakes who will win the Worlds. If it's windy it'll probably be the same people at the front but if we get a light day or if it gets really shifty like it was today, anything can happen.'

2009 CST Composites Moth World Championships start Monday August 10, 2009.

2009 International Moth US National Championship

International Moth Fleet

Sailed:7, Discards:1, To count:6, Entries:47, Scoring system:Appendix A
Rank	Nat	SailNo	Helm	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	Total	Nett
1st	AUS	3456	Nathan Outterridge	1.0	6.0	1.0	3.0	(8.0)	1.0	2.0	22.0	14.0
2nd	USA	3281	Bora Gulari	3.0	2.0	4.0	(5.0)	2.0	3.0	3.0	22.0	17.0
3rd	AUS	3383	Scott Babbadge	2.0	16.0 DNF	3.0	(48.0 DNC)	1.0	2.0	1.0	73.0	25.0
4th	SUI	3387	Arnaud Psarofaghis	7.0	(48.0 DNC)	5.0	4.0	6.0	5.0	6.0	81.0	33.0
5th	AUS	3455	Rohan Veal	24.0 DNF	1.0	2.0	1.0	5.0	4.0	(48.0 DNC)	85.0	37.0
6th	AUS	3457	Rob Gough	4.0	(48.0 DNC)	9.0	9.0	7.0	6.0	5.0	88.0	40.0
7th	USA	3391	Dalton Bergan	9.0	4.0	6.0	7.0	(23.0)	12.0	8.0	69.0	46.0
8th	USA	3451	Brad Funk	14.0	3.0	8.0	11.0	14.0	10.0	(23.0 DNF)	83.0	60.0
9th	USA	3450	Charlie McKee	11.0	8.0	11.0	(21.0)	11.0	9.0	10.0	81.0	60.0
10th	USA	3251	George Peet	10.0	7.0	15.0	19.0	10.0	8.0	(23.0 DNF)	92.0	69.0
11th	UAE	3453	Chris Graham	8.0	5.0	(48.0 DNC)	48.0 DNC	9.0	7.0	4.0	129.0	81.0
12th	USA	3299	Andy Mack	15.0	10.0	16.0	15.0	17.0	(29.0 DNF)	17.0	119.0	90.0
13th	USA	3597	Jonathan McKee	18.0	11.0	19.0	(24.0)	21.0	14.0	13.0	120.0	96.0
14th	GBR	3381	Simon Payne	6.0	(48.0 DNC)	10.0	2.0	3.0	29.0 DNF	48.0 DNC	146.0	98.0
15th	USA	3238	Chris Williams	24.0 DNF	(48.0 DNC)	17.0	17.0	16.0	20.0	12.0	154.0	106.0
16th	USA	7	Zach Maxam	17.0	13.0	23.0	23.0	(27.0)	16.0	14.0	133.0	106.0
17th	GBR	3146	Andrew Friend	12.0	(48.0 DNC)	22.0	13.0	19.0	21.0	23.0 DNF	158.0	110.0
18th	USA	8	Matt Pistay	13.0	9.0	27.0	18.0	15.0	29.0 DNF	(48.0 DNC)	159.0	111.0
19th	SUI	3247	Mikis Psarofaghis	(48.0 DNC)	14.0	21.0	22.0	24.0	15.0	16.0	160.0	112.0
20th	USA	3334	Bates McKee	16.0	12.0	29.0	26.0	(48.0 DNC)	13.0	18.0	162.0	114.0
21st	USA	3592	Lindsay Bergan	19.0	16.0 DNF	20.0	20.0	(26.0)	18.0	23.0 DNF	142.0	116.0
22nd	AUS	3380	Andrew McDougall	(48.0 DNC)	48.0 DNC	7.0	6.0	48.0 DNC	29.0 DNF	9.0	195.0	147.0
23rd	GBR	3373	Adam May	24.0 DNF	(48.0 DNC)	48.0 DNC	48.0 DNC	13.0	11.0	7.0	199.0	151.0
24th	AUS	3283	Will Logan	(48.0 DNC)	48.0 DNC	26.0	25.0	25.0	17.0	15.0	204.0	156.0
25th	SIN	3610	Mark Robinson	(48.0 DNC)	48.0 DNC	13.0	8.0	12.0	29.0 DNF	48.0 DNC	206.0	158.0
26th	SIN	3345	James Cole	24.0 DNF	(48.0 DNC)	28.0	27.0 DNF	4.0	29.0 DNF	48.0 DNC	208.0	160.0
27th	UAE	3452	Glenn Raphael	(48.0 DNC)	48.0 DNC	14.0	12.0	48.0 DNC	29.0 DNF	11.0	210.0	162.0
28th	NZL	1	Kevin Hall	5.0	(48.0 DNC)	18.0	10.0	48.0 DNC	48.0 DNC	48.0 DNC	225.0	177.0
29th	USA	161	Morgan Larson	24.0 DNF	(48.0 DNC)	12.0	14.0	48.0 DNC	48.0 DNC	48.0 DNC	242.0	194.0
30th	USA	32	Tim Wadlow	(48.0 DNC)	48.0 DNC	25.0	16.0	20.0	48.0 DNC	48.0 DNC	253.0	205.0
31st	USA	3589	Devin Bader	(48.0 DNC)	48.0 DNC	48.0 DNC	48.0 DNC	48.0 DNC	19.0	23.0 DNF	282.0	234.0
32nd	NZL	3395	Chris Steele	(48.0 DNC)	48.0 DNC	48.0 DNC	48.0 DNC	18.0	29.0 DNF	48.0 DNC	287.0	239.0
33rd	USA	3181	Ian Andrewes	(48.0 DNC)	48.0 DNC	48.0 DNC	48.0 DNC	22.0	48.0 DNC	48.0 DNC	310.0	262.0
34th	USA	3596	Nigel Oswald	(48.0 DNC)	48.0 DNC	24.0	48.0 DNC	48.0 DNC	48.0 DNC	48.0 DNC	312.0	264.0
35th	USA	3593	Paul Kilkenny	(48.0 DNC)	48.0 DNC	48.0 DNC	48.0 DNC	48.0 DNC	48.0 DNC	48.0 DNC	336.0	288.0
35th	CAN	3200	Chris Cochrane	(48.0 DNC)	48.0 DNC	48.0 DNC	48.0 DNC	48.0 DNC	48.0 DNC	48.0 DNC	336.0	288.0
35th	USA	3197	Joe Bousquet	(48.0 DNC)	48.0 DNC	48.0 DNC	48.0 DNC	48.0 DNC	48.0 DNC	48.0 DNC	336.0	288.0
35th	BEL	3388	Giovanni Galeotti	(48.0 DNC)	48.0 DNC	48.0 DNC	48.0 DNC	48.0 DNC	48.0 DNC	48.0 DNC	336.0	288.0
35th	GER	3159	Gerold Pauler	(48.0 DNC)	48.0 DNC	48.0 DNC	48.0 DNC	48.0 DNC	48.0 DNC	48.0 DNC	336.0	288.0
35th	USA	3282	Matt Noble	(48.0 DNC)	48.0 DNC	48.0 DNC	48.0 DNC	48.0 DNC	48.0 DNC	48.0 DNC	336.0	288.0
35th	USA	11	Dan Brandt	(48.0 DNC)	48.0 DNC	48.0 DNC	48.0 DNC	48.0 DNC	48.0 DNC	48.0 DNC	336.0	288.0
35th	USA	????	Anthony Boscolo	(48.0 DNC)	48.0 DNC	48.0 DNC	48.0 DNC	48.0 DNC	48.0 DNC	48.0 DNC	336.0	288.0
35th	USA	3221	Hans Henken	(48.0 DNC)	48.0 DNC	48.0 DNC	48.0 DNC	48.0 DNC	48.0 DNC	48.0 DNC	336.0	288.0
35th	USA	3216	Adam Lowry	(48.0 DNC)	48.0 DNC	48.0 DNC	48.0 DNC	48.0 DNC	48.0 DNC	48.0 DNC	336.0	288.0
35th	GBR	3378	James Phare	(48.0 DNC)	48.0 DNC	48.0 DNC	48.0 DNC	48.0 DNC	48.0 DNC	48.0 DNC	336.0	288.0
35th	USA	A	Jack Driscoll	(48.0 DNC)	48.0 DNC	48.0 DNC	48.0 DNC	48.0 DNC	48.0 DNC	48.0 DNC	336.0	288.0
35th	USA	3257	Karl Wittnebel	(48.0 DNC)	48.0 DNC	48.0 DNC	48.0 DNC	48.0 DNC	48.0 DNC	48.0 DNC	336.0	288.0