2023 Australian 420 Championship at Metung Yacht Club after Day 2

by Jeanette Severs 3 Jan 2023 10:44 GMT 2-6 January 2023

The 420 National Championships got under way on Monday, January 2, with 19 racing dinghies entered, from youth competitors from across three Australian states.

After two days of racing on Lake King, at Metung (in southeastern Australia), brothers Spencer and Benedict Mckay (the current NSW champions) are sitting in first place, on eight points, narrowly ahead of former national champions, James Jackson and Harrison Chapman (Victoria), in second place on nine points.

A light northerly wind on Monday still saw some fast racing among the two-person crews, with competitors using the trapeze and spinnaker to effect. The vagaries of the wind saw the race course change a couple of times during the day.

Three races were successfully held on Monday, with the Mckay brothers finishing first, second and first in succession.

It was a good start for the NSW pair, setting them up to retain the yellow leader jerseys after gaining two second placings out of three races on Tuesday.

Racing on day two saw conditions change, with gusty southerly winds across the lake favouring the former national champions - Jackson and Chapman finished first, second and third in succession over races four, five and six.

The second day of racing also saw Matty Goss and Carter Baker progress into third place overall, on 12 points. The pair raced hard to finish in first place in races five and six on day two.

Baker, from Adelaide, is the current national champion and has teamed with Goss, a Victorian, for this race series.

In the race for the female championship, last year's 420 National Championships runners-up, Hanako Tomoshima and Grace Morrow, from NSW, are in first place, on 26 points. Overall, Tomoshima and Morrow have finished fifth twice, sixth twice and fourth (in the final race of day two).

Their closest rivals, Olivia Cameron and Lily Fogarty, from Victoria, are on 30 points, and at the end of day two this pair is sitting in second place for the female championship.

The 420 is an international youth performance pathways class, with many of the 420 sailors graduating to the Olympic 470 class. The 420 has been the boat of choice for many of Australia's up and coming Olympic, America's Cup and round the world sailors.

The 420 sailing dinghy is favoured by teenagers for its speed, and is the youth development boat in 43 countries. The 420 sailing dinghy is 4.2 metres long and has three sails, including a brightly coloured spinnaker.

Hosted by the Metung Yacht Club on the Gippsland Lakes, the 420 National Championships is being held over four days and has attracted competitors from three States - NSW, Victoria and South Australia. Training camps were held at Metung in the days leading up to the 420 National Championship races.

At the time of writing, Wednesday is expected to be a lay day, with competition continuing on Lake King on Thursday and Friday, January 5 and 6.

Results after Day 2:

Pos	Sail No	Boat Name	Helm	Crew	Club	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	Pts
1	54351	BARBARA	Spencer Mckay	Benedict Mckay	WSC/RSYS	1	2	1	2	[4]	2	8
2	55151	BALANCE	James Jackson	Harrison Chapman	MYC	[3]	1	2	1	2	3	9
3	56161	KAMIKAZE	Matty Goss	Carter Baker	SYC	2	[6]	4	4	1	1	12
4	56931	RUSH	Will Wilkinson	Luca Alexander	WSC MHYC	[5]	3	3	3	3	5	17
5	56713	SAILFISH	Hanako Tomishima	Grace Morrow	WSC	[6]	5	5	6	6	4	26
6	56388	BRAVE STORM	Martin Liebhold	Elia Sellers	WSC	7	4	6	[8]	5	6	28
7	55149	AZZURRA	Olivia Cameron	Lilly Fogarty	DBYC	4	[8]	7	5	7	7	30
8	56542	GIACOMO	Nicholas Meijer	Riley Everett	SBSC	[11]	7	8	9	8	8	40
9	56448	SQUIDGY	Xanthe Kibble	Olivia Chadwick	WSC	9	12	[13]	7	9	11	48
10	56194	VAMOS	Sailor Cowen	Sophie Ward	LBSC	10	11	[12]	11	10	9	51
11	55167	CRUSH	Fraser Baker	Mitchell Young	LBSC/ASC	8	9	11	14	12	[19]	54
12	56160	INDIAN PACIFIC	Murphy Cowen	Braden Grittifhs	LBSC	[13]	10	10	13	11	10	54
13	55245	NOTOS	Abbey Everett	Stephanie Koutsimpir	SBSC	12	[13]	9	10	13	12	56
14	54573	SHAKE N BAKE	William White	Declan Ryan	myc	[15]	15	14	15	15	14	73
15	53663	TURBULENCE	Angus Mahoney	Caden Humphrey	RBYC	18	16	[19]	12	16	13	75
16	52714	CLUELESS	Lucy Laverty	Milli Grover	SsYC/MYC	16	14	15	17	[20S]	16	78
17	52422	LITTLE SEA	Zac Lowe	Finnlay Meijer	SBSC	14	[19]	18	19	14	15	80
18	55158	RIPTIDE	Kristen Koutsimpiris	Jessica Lowe	SBSC	17	17	17	16	[18]	17	84
19	54572	CARPE DIEM	Wayne Smith	Charlie Edwards	MYC	[19]	18	16	18	17	18	87