Nathan Outteridge interview at the McDougall + McConaghy Moth Worlds
by Jonny Fullerton 15 Jan 2015 06:48 GMT
9-16 January 2015
Nathan Outteridge (AUS) on the penultimate day of the 2015 McDougall McConaghy International Moth Worlds © Th. Martinez / Sea&Co / 2015 Moth Worlds
Jonny Fullerton talks to defending champion Nathan Outteridge exclusively for YachtsandYachting.com after the penultimate day of the 2015 McDougall + McConaghy Moth Worlds.
Jonny Fullerton: Four good races today, a beautiful day for Moth sailing and Peter Burling was flying. There's one more day to go and I'm sure you're not going to let the title go that easily?
Nathan Outteridge: Yes it was a good battle today. I think in the first two races we were neck and neck the whole way round, I got the first one and he got the second one - a few seconds in it each race. The third race got quite windy and I actually had to duck someone out of a tack on the line and didn't quite adjust the rudder as I went to dip and got thrown out around the forestay so I was playing catch-up throughout the race and got back to a 5th - I think he won that race. The last race was quite shifty and we were crossing tacks a bit on the first two beats and then I got out of phase on the last beat so he won and I got a third with Tom Slingsby in the middle. It's close, he's sailing well obviously, he's sailing fast but there's four more races tomorrow. He's probably got a nice little points lead at the moment but it's far from over.
JF: Exactly, we've got to tot up the points but he's got a nice little comfortable cushion, there's a group of 5 or 6 of you where it must be pretty close after today. I know one or two of the guys have had a couple of bad results but it really is a great rivalry this isn't it? You have it in the 49ers, the Moths, the A Class and now the America's Cup - for the sport it's absolutely fabulous.
NO: Yes, it's a great fun rivalry. We've been friends for 5 or 6 years now since they got in the 49er class. We were pretty open with trying to help Pete in the 49er and give ourselves a good training partner and probably taught him too much to be honest! But it's going to make us better sailors and it's going to make them better sailors. Meeting in the Moth class, the A Class and also in the America's Cup in the future is great - you want to be the best, you don't want to just win regattas because the best don't show up and it's pretty obvious that at this regatta the best sailors in the world are here and without a doubt Pete's one of them.
JF: We've now had the full range of conditions at this regatta, almost from the sublime to the ridiculous, from the very light to the pretty fresh, and the cream does generally rise to the top in the end. One more day to go and good luck with the final day, I'm sure you're not going to let this go without a fight. Is the boat all ok and you're ok?
NO: Yes, the boat's fine, the body's a bit sore but that's what happens after four races in those conditions. I think tomorrow will be interesting as we're probably going to get some medium air from what I've seen on the forecast. As you said we've had light and really strong but we haven't had that 12-15 knots and as soon as you get that kind of wind range there's another 15 people that can start winning races, when it goes super light or super windy it seems Pete & I, Tom (Slingsby) and a few others can pull out and win the races, but if it's a bit lighter there will be some real racing.
JF: What do you regard as ideal conditions for yourself?
NO: I'm normally quite good in the fresh stuff, I was fine today, I had a bad third race with some crashes, but I quite like the shifty stuff as well, around 8-14 knots as well so if we can dial that in tomorrow I think it'll be a good day.
JF: Thanks mate and all the best for tomorrow.
NO: No worries, cheers.
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