Sail Sydney presents brothers new challenges
by David Sygall 19 Nov 2017 06:23 GMT
11-17 December 2017
Ryan Littlechild and Tyler Creevey © Right On Photography
Glamour sailing comes to Sydney Harbour next month when some of the best Olympic and Invited Class sailors in the southern hemisphere get off the mark in the next edition of Sail Sydney.
More than 100 entries across 25 classes have been received so far for the regatta, to be hosted by Woollahra Sailing Club between December 11-17.
Among the quality field is Jack Littlechild, who finished fifth in the Laser 4.7 at Sail Sydney in 2016 and will this year shift to the Laser Radial Class.
Jack's younger brother, Ryan Littlechild, will also compete. Ryan recently switched to skippering a 420, with Tyler Creevey crewing, after having won the Optimist Open Class the previous two years.
But with their boat in transit to Western Australia for the 420 Worlds, Ryan will be using his brother's Laser 4.7 for Sail Sydney 2017.
"I've only sailed the 4.7 a few times but I'm looking forward to sailing in a large fleet against several of my friends," Ryan said
Despite the regatta being staged on familiar waters, the Woollahra Sailing Club Member conceded that home Club advantage sometimes isn't the case on Sydney Harbour.
"We get a lot of differing conditions from day to day sailing out of Woollahra, hopefully including a nice sea breeze, 10 to 15 knots, if we're lucky in warm conditions would be ideal for Sail Sydney," he said.
Whatever the conditions in store, big brother Jack's challenge will be to control the increased power in the Radial rig.
"Also the stronger competition in the Radial makes you work harder," said Jack, a four-time Sail Sydney competitor.
As well as their local regatta, the committed sailing brothers will compete at Sail Melbourne to kick-start their Christmas/New Year Summer sailing campaign.