Australian Women's Match Racing Championship
by Peter Campbell 4 Sep 2016 14:26 BST
3 September 2016
Australian Women's Match Racing Championship © Nick Smart
A massive spinnaker broach just metres from the finish line, with the young helmswoman falling overboard, may well have cost young Sydney sailor Sarah Parker victory in the Australian women's match racing championship on the River Derwent yesterday.
A 25 knot north-westerly gust forced the boat into a 'chinese gybe' just metres from winning the semi-final, knocking Parker over the stern.
The young sailor hung desperately to the transom of the boat, an Elliott 6, but with her crew unable to lower the spinnaker and slow down the boat she was forced to let go and swim to an official boat.
Parker and her talented young crew looked near certain to win a place in the grand final after winning the first match against Caitlin Tames from the Cruising Yacht Club and holding a commanding lead nearing the finish of race two in the best of three race semi-final.
With the semi-final score 1-all, Parker and her still-shaken crew were no match for Tames in the deciding race, losing 2-1.
However, as some compensation, the championship title went to another RPAYC crew, skippered by Clare Costanzo, who beat Tames 2-0 in the grand final.
Parker's crew also regained their composure to win the petit final 2-0 against Sam Bailey and her crew of Jill Abel, Kirsty Gray and Amelia Catt from the Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania/Athena Sailing, 2-0.
Clare Costanzo and Sarah Parker each scored 12 wins in the two round-robins, Bailey and Tames had seven wins each while Vanessa Dudley (Middle Harbour Amateur Sailing Club) scored six wins,
Sarah Parker was not the only sailor who 'went for a swim' in the chilly waters of the Derwent with a crew member of the sports boat Temptation going overboard when the boat did an out-of-control broach nearing the leeward mark off Nutrove Beach.
With the remaining crew struggling to lower the spinnaker, the crewman was picked up unharmed by the nearby patrol boat and taken to the Derwent Sailing Squadron which was conducting its final Winter Series race day.