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6-12 January, 2002
A fleet of 32 representing 5 states plus Japan, sailed at the revitalised Lake Munmorah Sailing Club on the NSW Central Coast early January and enjoyed a brilliant week of sailing free from the imfamous bushfires. Reliable but shifty breezes meant the racing was hard fought and demanding. Mark Thorpe won his 4th consecutive title with the same Hungry Tiger, but not without a struggle with his brother Les, now sporting a new Mark built Tiger replica Sector 7 G. Into the last day the scores were equal then Mark won in the morning and made the afternoon race a decider. Then a 30kt southerly cancelled racing and deprived Les of the opportunity to regain the lead. The first 7 boats were all Hungry Tigers or similar, indicating at least a 4 year stability in the class design race. No unusual designs or foilers competed maybe due to uncertainty of the foiler's future legality. The newly refined Thorpe / Truflo sails appeared to have an edge over the Sier and KA sails of the lower place getters Chris Dey in 3rd (2000 World Champion), and Andrew McDougall 4th and also Masters champion (1982 and 1983 National Champion). Mid fleet racing was also competitive with much exchanging of places on all legs. 48kg Japanese 470 Olympic Silver medallist Yumiko Shige used the series as a training regatta and gradually improved her medium breeze handling until she managed to complete the course without swims on the last day to place 16th overall. In contrast South Australian Greg Wise managed 11th despite his 90kg, almost twice the weight of Yumiko. Best Junior was Andrew Stevenson at 10th, best Scow was Ian Sim at 28th and best Australian female was Lee Gray at 29th. Lake Munmorah ran an excellent series with great courses on a good venue. As most sailors camped on site the social scene was also up to standard. Michael Boode lost his boat on the last morning, finding it in the community hall fully rigged in time to make the last race. The presentation night festivities also saw a tent relocated into the men's change room, not too mention one particular mothie wearing only monofilm speedos and running through the crowd while the band was playing. Next years nationals regatta will be in Adelaide (with a fall back of Melbourne) and the Worlds in May 2003 on the north west coast of France, a Moth stronghold of the 1960s. Final Results
Phil Stevenson's NSW Report I enjoyed racing for the mid field positions and more than once rounded marks 3 or 4 boats deep. It was just so close and competitive all through the fleet. The winds were between 10 and 15 most of the time with plenty of shifts to make life interesting. The race management was excellent and the small club went out of their way to make us welcome and keep us happy. It was good to see a few newcomers. Particularly pleasing was the performance of the two youngsters from Newcastle, 16 year old Steve Ray (Mr OCS) and 20 year old Scott Babbage, both of whom did very well in their 1995 vintage boats and without very much time on the water. I hope they can attract more local attention and get a Newcastle fleet going. As well the new Gold Coast fleet was represented by Tim Phillips (Mr Practical Joker) who initially came for a few days to check us out but stayed the full week because he was having such a good time. While they are not ready yet I can see a Queensland Nations coming up in a few years. If they are all like Tim we may be in for a sequel to the infamous burning scow up the flagpole legend of ancient moth mythology. That is if you do not count Mic Boote's boat relocating to the Community Hall or Andrew Stevenson's tent to the toilet block. The best part about the Nationals is that we all spent enough money to get both the association and the Munmorah sailing club out of the red. Venue
Accommodation and Facilities General Information
Programme
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