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Nathan Outteridge turns 49er success into victory at Moth Europeans
The Australian Sailing Team's Nathan Outteridge has won the 2010 Moth European Championship in Switzerland, just days after wrapping up the 49er class at the Skandia Sail for Gold Regatta in Weymouth, England.
Outteridge’s win in the Moth class comes off the back of his second place at the 2009 Moth World Championship in the United States with the Australian one of the rising stars in the exciting class.
Outteridge took the title from American Bora Gulari by just two points with fellow Australian Scott Babbage third.
Gulari and Outteridge were the class performers of the fleet winning 13 of the regatta’s 14 races in great sailing conditions in Switzerland.
“I was not very good in the first race of the last day,” said Outteridge. “I was winning, but made a mistake on a tack and Bora and Simon took advantage of it and overtook me. I managed to pass Simon again, but not Bora.”
“Between the two races, Bora told me he was not feeling too well and that he was thinking of giving up the second race. He nevertheless tried, but had to stop. I decided to go on full speed, because I wanted to win the last race of the championship.”
“I’m happy because I got much closer to Bora at this event,” he said. “I changed boat and material and I feel much nearer to Bora, last year I was second at the World Championships in the USA, but I was not as close. I plan to compete in the next year’s Worlds at home in Australia and hopefully win again.”
Only hours after winning the 49er class with crew Iain Jensen in the Skandia Sail for Gold Regatta at the venue for the 2012 Olympics in England, Nathan jumped in a car with his new Moth on the roof and drove all the way to Silvaplana near St Moritz in Switzerland.
Arriving the very next day, he put his new foiling moth together and started racing. In a hard fought event, consisting of 14 races and a fleet of 83 boats, including a number of past World Champions, it went right down to the very last race which Nathan won to secure the title.
The win was a great confidence booster leading into the 2010 Moth World Championships which will be held on Lake Macquarie at Belmont 16s in January. While an Olympic Gold medal in the 49er class is still Nathan's main priority and goal he enjoys sailing the Moth and has leant a lot about rig set ups and speed sailing from this class which he has been able to utilise in his 49er campaign.
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