Australian Match Racing Championship in Sydney - Day 3
by Jennifer Crooks, CYCA Media 23 Sep 2013 11:37 BST
21-24 September 2013
Gilmour on top after Round Robin Two
Sam Gilmour and his team of Jack Breislin, Adam Negri and Chris Smith, representing the University of Western Australia, have finished on top of leader board in the Australian Match Racing Championship after the completion of Round Robin Two in the penultimate day of racing.
It was all down to the last race of the day – whoever won that match would finish the Round Robins in first place and it was Gilmour that triumphed over Ashlen Rooklyn.
"We knew going into the last match that whoever won would get the right to choose their opponent in the semis. It was a close match – we were fast through the water," Gilmour said
"It was really close racing throughout the day today and we lost a couple of matches. We lost to Malcolm (Parker) as we were over the line and we couldn't catch up after we re-started.
"We also lost to Evan (Walker). It was a really tight match and we made a few tactical errors. He managed to make a big gain and overtake us on the last leg.
"We'll probably choose Andy (Green) in the semi-finals and it will be interesting to see what happens. Tomorrow is just another day and we'll take it race by race. I'm happy with how the team has come together this week and I'm looking forward to the final," Gilmour added.
Ashlen Rooklyn and his team of Jeronimo Harrison, Sam Ellis and Chris Steele, representing Darwin Sailing Club, finished second at the end of the Round Robins and will race off against Evan Walker to see who will make it into the grand final.
Evan Walker and his team of John Flannery, Hamish Hardy and Jaidan Stevens representing the host club, the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia finished on equal points with Rooklyn at the end of racing – but as Walker had lost to Rooklyn earlier in the day he was relegated to third position.
"I'm really happy to be in the hunt for the lead going into the finals – we've given ourselves every chance," Walker said.
Of his loss to Rooklyn, Walker simply said "He got the better of us in the start and that was the race."
"We had a really good win against Sam (Gilmour). He had a good lead in the first run but we managed to pull him in and rolled him out of a gybe on the last run to beat him by about one metre in the end," Walker added.
"It'll be a tight semi against Ash (Rooklyn) tomorrow but we'll just keep doing what we're doing and see where that takes us," he added.
Principal Race Officer Denis Thompson pushed through ten flights (46 races) to complete Round Robin Two despite losing an hour whilst the breeze filled in.
"It was very tricky today – the moderate breezes that were predicted didn't eventuate. We waited an hour and a weak north easterly came in. It gradually built to 7 knots and then shifted to a weak easterly and towards the end of the afternoon shifted to east north east," Thompson said.
"There were lots of course changes and shifting of marks. It was a typical Sydney sick easterly which is quite difficult to sail in. The match racing was superb – very tactical," he added.
It was a tough day at the office for Andrea Green and his crew of Jack Dawson, Byron White, Matt Stenta and Rosie Lee, representing the host club, the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia. They finished in fourth place and will race against Gilmour in the semi-finals.
"We still have a lot of work to do in the pre-start. The crew have been keeping us sailing fast which has allowed us to make up some big deficits coming off the start," Green said
"Our best match of the day was against Murray (Jones) – it went right to the wire. A tough pre-start – we were underneath the pin lay in the last 30seconds before the start and we were struggling to get up and it was a 50/50 called whether we had passed through head to wind. The umpires awarded Murray the penalty and we were able to control the race from there," Green concluded.
In his first major match racing regatta Matt Jerwood from South of Perth Yacht Club finished seventh. "We came here to learn and we have and it's been a lot of fun. We did really well on the first day in the shifty conditions but didn't do so well in the second and third day," Jerwood said.
"We weren't able to get off the start line as quickly as I wanted to but we seemed to improve over the course of the regatta and we had some good results in the end. The Elliott 7s are great boats to sail," he added.
Milly Bennett and her crew of Alice Tarnawski, Kajsa Doyle, Jessica Russell and Seldon Coventry, representing Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club lead the Australian Women's Match Racing Championship, after beating Amanda Scrivenor (CYCA) today.
The Australian Open and Women's Match Racing Championships are being hosted by the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia and contested on the new fleet of ten Elliott 7s.
Racing is concludes tomorrow, Tuesday 24 September with the semi-finals and finals commencing at 1015hrs. The Bureau of Meteorology is predicting a mostly sunny day with north west to north easterly winds of 10 to 15 knots becoming variable in the morning. Racing will be conducted in the vicinity of Rushcutters Bay and live results from each match will be posted on the CYCA website via www.cyca.com.au/youth/australian-match-racing-championships-2013/live-results
The Australian Youth Match Racing Championship will follow on from the Australian Open and Australian Women's Match Racing Championships from 25-29 September and will also be hosted by the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia.
Standings after Round Robin Two:
1st: Sam Gilmour (University of Western Australia) – 19pts
2nd: Ashlen Rooklyn (Darwin Sailing Club) – 18pts
3rd: Evan Walker (CYCA) - 18pts
4th: Andrea Green (CYCA) - 13pts
5th: Hugh Tait (NSC) – 12pts
6th: Malcolm Parker (RPAYC) – 11pts
7th: Matt Jerwood (South of Perth Yacht Club) – 11pts
8th: Murray Jones (CYCA) –8pts
9th Milly Bennett (RPAYC) – 8pts
10th: Amanda Scrivenor (CYCA) – 8pts
11th: Rayshele Martin (RFBYC) – 4pts
12th: Tara McCall (CYCA) – 2pts
For full results log on to www.cyca.com.au/youth/australian-match-racing-championships-2013