Steve Thomas makes a clean sweep of the Perth Match Cup
by John Roberson 18 Mar 2017 18:18 GMT
16-18 March 2017
Perth Match Cup © WMRT / Outback to Ocean Photography
Local skipper Steve Thomas and his RPM Racing team have made a clean sweep of the Perth Match Cup, winning every race and confirming his qualification for next week's Match Cup Australia, the first championship level event of the 2017 World Match Racing Tour.
Also through to the event next week are second placed Evan Walker from Sydney and New Zealand skipper George Anyon of Auckland. Walker, who represents the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia, sailed a strong series, while Anyon was the surprise of the event, putting in a mature performance.
"It's awesome to have a clean sweep," admitted Thomas at the end of the day, "we really didn't expect that coming into the week. Although we hadn't sailed together before, everything came together pretty quickly and that helped us to build on all the tactical things we wanted to work on through the week. By the end of it we were feeling really comfortable."
Thomas's crew of Rhys Mara, Ben Robinson and Henry Kernot, all have enviable sailing CVs, and are no strangers to the top end of the leaderboard, but their ability to work together as a team has been remarkable. Steve Thomas has already qualified for the Tour event in northern Europe, and the team will be seeking invitations to other qualifiers.
Finishing third, and qualifying for next week's event was a big surprise for George Anyon and his crew, with this being George's first regatta at the helm of an M32. "I was surprised at how quickly I picked it up as a helm," he admitted, "the boats are actually quite simple, which is nice."
Despite overcast weather and some rain, there was a good breeze all day, which made for some great racing on the confined waters of the Swan River's Freshwater Bay. The regatta has been hosted by the Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club, which is also the venue for next week's event.
Overall Results:
1 Steve Thomas/RPM Racing (AUS)
2 Evan Walker/KA Match (AUS)
3 George Anyon/RNZYS Perfomance (NZL)
4 Will Boulden/Alpha Racing Team (AUS)
5 Brett Burvill/Edge Racing (AUS)
6 Victor Serezhkin/Gazprom Team (RUS)
7 Robbie Gibbs/Royal Perth Yacht Club (AUS)
8 Gemma Jones/RNZYS Performance (NZL)
9 Jeremy Koo/Sime Derby Foundations (MAS)
10 Will Dargaville/Rogue Racing (AUS)