It was a really tough day for Race Management on day three of the 2018 Warren Jones International Youth Regatta, with shifting light winds all day on Perth Waters, meaning PRO Kim Laurence and his team were fully tested as the faint breeze flicked around from east to south and back, playing havoc with course setting.
Coupled with high and low tides due to the full moon, it was testing times too for the 12 teams competing.
Crews have been bashed by two days of medium to strong breezes which benefitted the bigger, stronger teams. However, it was tough for the lighter crew combinations. A number have mixed male/female crews and two teams have very young tacticians learning from the best of youth skippers.
Will Boulden and his Alpha Racing Team from Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club continue to tick off the wins in Round Two, with 14 year-old Will Drew in the afterguard. The two Will’s stand at four wins and no losses in Round 2.
The Dutch crew on Team Dutch Wave skippered by Jelmer van Beek have Arienne van de Loosdrecht working the pit and 13 year-old local sailor, Jared Clark, at the back of the boat. Jelmer’s team won all three matches raced today to be in the mix for a semi-final spot.
Harry Price, skippering Downuder Racing from the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia in Sydney, continues to add to his win tally with a very experienced match racing crew. His four from four races means he is breathing down the neck of Boulden at the top of the leaderboard.
Nick Egnot-Johnson, one of the teams from the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron Performance Programme, has a team of teenagers on board, including Charlotte Porter on trim. They have progressed in Round 2 with three more wins on the board.
Also improving in the lighter airs is Clare Costanzo and her team from Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club, including Jessica Angus as floater. Clare’s team took two scalps in James Wilson and Conor Nicholas on day three of the regatta.
James Hodgson, who comes from Mooloolaba in Queensland, but sails with the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia Youth Sailing Academy, holds a 57 percent win rate in Round 2, leaving him in contention for a semi-final position. James won a real classic match race against Conor Nicholas and his South of Perth Yacht Club team in a real nail bitter in the soft conditions.
Sailors and volunteers then retired to the Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club for a barbecue and to watch the full blood, blue moon set over the City of Perth skyline, whilst the event sponsors and other iconic Perth businesses, with Patersons Securities finishing the night on top!
Racing Day Four will kick off again today at 12:30pm local time with race management hoping to get through all of the flights for the second Round Robin.
But, before the racing, we have teamed up with Keep Australia Beautiful, Friends of Elizabeth Quay and the Department of Biodiversity and will be conducting a Beach Clean Up along the Perth Foreshore.
