Slingsby slings hammer at Moth Worlds

Published on December 14th, 2019

Perth, Australia (December 14, 2019) – It was all to play for today at the 2019 Chandler Macleod Moth Worlds as the final day of qualifying saw positions very much up for grabs to make the cut for Gold fleet racing that kicks off after tomorrow’s lay day.

The fleets will be split for the finals racing allowing the first chance to see the best sailors all on the same course for the first time.

It will be the first time since the Australian Nationals that we will see some sailors on the same course, with Tom Slingsby (AUS) putting on a clinic on the Yellow course, while Tom Burton (AUS) and Kyle Langford (AUS) have been duking it out on the Blue course.

Slingsby solidified his position as the championship favorite after a stellar effort today that saw him claim three race wins from as many races, with plenty of daylight behind him in most instances.

His nearest competitors Francesco Bruni (ITA), Brad Funk (USA), and Matthew Chew (AUS) all had solid days as well, but were just unable to get near the current SailGP champion helm.

Funk said after the first race on the Blue course that Slingsby was just able to muscle his way into commanding leads off the start.

“Every day is a little bit different, but this left side just keeps paying off in good pressure,” Funk said. “But Tommy (Slingsby) just puts the hammer down and has his own race then it’s kind of between four other people for second through fifth.”

Funk said the race course wasn’t providing the pumping sea breezes that Perth was renowned for, and there were a few passing lanes up the top end of the course.

“At the top it’s not just solid pressure up there, you’ve got to get the first pressure so I went around a different gate and managed to get it so managed to come downwind and pass two boats.”

On the Blue course, Langford had some interesting moments minutes before the start of Race 6 when he was seen with the boat mounted on a RIB applying tape to the bowsprit of his Bieker Moth, however, it didn’t seem to phase him as he comfortably took the chocolates from Burton to round out the day.

There were many sailors who found the course tricky as the late start and patchy sea breeze began to die out, making it a case of joining the dots and staying in the pressure.

This Worlds continues to show a particularly interesting narrative across the manufacturing landscape with different pieces of kit all able to win races and a range of very different setups all racing along at similar speeds.

Exocet, Bieker, and MACH2 are taking plenty of wins and Francesco Bruni is also having some solid results on the Manta.

It’s a day off tomorrow with a lot of the sailors heading to Rottnest Island for the day, with the action picking back up on December 16 with LIVE STREAMING on Facebook for all three days of the Gold Fleet finals.

The final three days of the event when the title will be decided is expected to see the famous Fremantle Doctor pump back in as Perth returns to some normality, after a number of weeks of scorching temperatures and fluky and challenging conditions.

Worlds information – Entry list – Results – Facebook

Qualifying Results (Top 10 of 117; 6 races, 1 discard)