Classic Yacht Association Journal

ANDREW AITKEN ANDY ANDERSON BEACON MARINE COLIN & PATRICA CARRAN COLOURWORX ROY DICKSON DODSON JAPANESE PARTSWORLD DOYLE SAILS GRAEME EDWARDS GERALD FLYNN MATTHEW FLYNN GALBRAITH FAMILY DON GRAYSON HARKEN NZ PHILLIP HART HOPMAN FAMILY ICEFIRE LTD KZ RACE FURLERS LIGHTHOUSE MARINE EQUIPMENT LUCAS FAMILY MIKE MAHONEY STEVE MAIR MCKEOGH FAMILY MULCAHY ENGINEERING DAVID NATHAN NEW WORLD BIRKENHEAD PAGANI PORK CHOP RACING ANDREW REID SAVINGS WORKS JOHN & KATHRYN SINCLAIR SOUTHERN SPARS/ RIGPRO WASHTECH WESTHAVEN ROTARY WINDOWMAKERS HUGH L WRIGHT YACHTING DEVELOPMENTS ZHIK

SUPPORTERS

RNZYS PERFORMANCE PROGRAMME

Our two women’s touring teams – Celia Willison’s Edge Women’s Match team with crew Charlotte Porter, Serena Woodall, Paige Cook, and Alison Kent; and Megan Thomson’s 2.0 Racing with crew of Ellie Copeland, Chelsea Rees, Josi Andres and Anna Merchant – sailed excellently at the Barfoot & Thompson Women’s Match Racing World Championship. Edge claimed a valiant 2nd behind the dominant world champion Pauline Courtois and her Match in Pink (FRA) crew, while 2.0 Racing knocked off Anna Ostling’s Wings (SWE) crew for 3rd in the petit final. This meant the RNZYS was able to claim 2nd and 3rd on home water.

William Woodworth spoke to Celia and Megan after their respective Silver and Bronze medal performances: After plenty of trips for regattas overseas, how was it to be a home team for a World Championship? MT - We have been fortunate to travel quite a bit this year, and the hospitality shown to us overseas was incredible, but there is nothing like competing at your home club with friends and families cheering you on. It was awesome to race on home waters for a world title. It felt a bit surreal on day one. Our team chatted about how it felt like just another training day, but with world-class training partners. CW - We really enjoyed having our international friends in our home club for the worlds. For most of the year Serena (Woodall), Gator (Alison Kent) and I have been living overseas and we’re stoked to show off our home club to international teams who have done the same for us at their clubs. Did you have any memorable matchup’s / events throughout the worlds? MT - Matching up against the world champions for sure! Pauline and her team have been dominant for so long, and we haven’t had the opportunity to race them before now. But in all honesty, all our races on the final day were exciting. They all went to sudden death, putting the pressure on and keeping the racing close. CW - We tried to keep it cool, calm and consistent throughout every race, but we did have one spectacular wipeout. On one of the breezy days, we were gybing downwind with the kite up and Paige slipped and dropped the kite sheet. We violently wiped out and had both Serena and Charlotte in the water. Clearly, someone had been saying their prayers because we still won that race. What advantages did you think you had with sailing at home? MT - Knowing the boats was an advantage; we felt confident in our boat handling. Usually, when we go away to an event, we spend the first couple of days figuring the boat out. As for the venue itself, each day is so variable here that I think it can open the game up to anyone as each day saw different conditions which would have played to different teams’ strengths. CW - Obviously it is a huge advantage to know the tides and how the breeze works in the harbour, but you can never underestimate the breeze’s shiftiness close to the harbour’s edges, as we saw on the finals day. Is there anything you look back on and think “we could have done that better”? MT - 100% yes, but that’s the joy of match racing. There are no blurred lines. Each race is a clear win, or loss and you are instantly aware of where you could have improved. But that’s what our team loves about match racing – the margins are so small. CW - We were pretty happy with how we sailed overall. We trusted our guts on plenty of calls that paid off. For me, I think we could have trusted our guts even more. A few losses were due to overthinking moves, or shifts. MT - Our team would like to say a massive thank you to all those who have supported us this season: RNZYS, Musto, along with friends and family. CW – Edge Racing would like to thank the RNZYS and NZL Sailing Foundation for their support this season. Thanks to RNZYS for running the event. and all the Race Committee and umpire volunteers for making the racing fair for everyone.

MASTERCARD YOUTH TRAINING PROGRAMME

Josh Hyde and his crew of Jack Manning, Zach Fong, Cody Coughlan, and Ryder Ellis performed well at CYCA match race events in Sydney.

The summer season is officially here, and our Mastercard Youth Training Programme athletes have been taking full advantage of the longer evening training sessions as they continue to refine their skills. There have also been a few lucky ones who have been given the opportunity to test some of these skills in sunny Sydney, where they have competed against some of the world’s best youth match racing talent.

Our RNZYS team of Brooke Adamson, Poppy Hoskin, Emilie Jones, Sofia Fyfe, and Roberta Li Bassi competed in the John Messenger Women’s Regatta, which took place in Sydney. They managed to sneak away with a 5th place, which was commendable after the event changed to asymmetrical spinnakers last minute when the girls had done all their training with symmetricals! Well done girls.

Next up, we sent two teams to both the Harken Youth International at the Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club and the Bolle Youth International Match racing event run out of the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia. Brayden Hamilton and his team of Crue Ellis, Luc Gladwell, Kahurangi Nepia and Chloe Salthouse made improvements throughout the trip and came away with a newfound passion for the match racing discipline. Crue commented it was “a big change, having never raced overseas before. It was a high level, but we made big improvements with little time together”.

Congratulations to Josh Hyde and his team of Jack Manning, Zach Fong, Cody Coughlan, and Ryder Ellis, who came away with a 5th and a 4th and also made big leaps throughout the two events. Josh commented that he “loved the opportunity to be put under some pressure and to thrive in it”.

Back at home, we had a number of the programme athletes and the regular volunteers give up time to volunteer for the Barfoot & Thompson Women’s Match Racing World Championships that were held at the club in November. It was a great event and I’m sure it was a massive inspiration for the younger girls in our squad. Well done to the two Kiwi teams, Edge Woman’s Match and 2.0 Women’s Racing Team, which both finished on the podium. Lots of graduates among those two crews!

The YTP encourages athletes to seek out opportunities to expand their sailing repertoires, so it’s great to see so many current and graduate members who are regular fixtures on boats and races around the club. If you are looking for extra crew, don’t hesitate to get in touch with me and I will do my best to connect you with one of the athletes.

As we look forward to the New Year, there’s no slowing down with plenty of regattas left to work towards, including another Australian event, an event in Wellington and our very own Harken Youth International Match Racing regatta, which is bound to attract some of the world’s best.

As I write this, we are about to embark on our end of year race to Kawau Island, where we will stay the night camping next to RNZYS’ Lidgard House.

This will be a nice way to celebrate the work that everyone has put in this season and further foster the relationships that are already strong in the programme.