Issue date
Over Easter weekend, New Zealand’s 2012 Access Liberty (servo) World Champion Helena Horswell will be back in Australia racing at the 2013 Centenary of Canberra Asia-Pacific Access Championships.
The Canberra Yacht Club is joining forces with Sailability ACT (the Organising Authority) and the Australian Access Class Association (AACA) for this regatta, which doubles as the Australian National Championships. Helena is one of approximately ten people registered in the single person Access Liberty division, set for three days of intense racing on West Lake Bay on Lake Burley Griffin.
The regatta starts on Saturday 30 March, and concludes on April 1st. Helena will be sailing a chartered boat, but has learned from her past experiences that its best to pack her own electronic servo gear; hers is quality mach two equipment and includes winches, steering equipment, control boxes and of course plenty of wiring. At previous events her results have suffered as a result of gear failure, as for example at Oceanbridge Sail Auckland 2013 she lost out on two races... that sort of mishaps are hard to bounce back from.
For Helena, competing in this regatta is another bit of preparation to help her work toward her ultimate goal: to defend her Access Liberty (servo class) World Championship Title. The 2014 Access Liberty World Championships will be sailed in San Francisco at the South Beach Yacht Club, and for that she will be looking to find a way to ship all of her best sailing equipment, including her boat ‘Hocus Pocus’.
Helena will be the only New Zealander competing at this event after a busy domestic season, particularly in Auckland who hosted the 2013 Kiwi Cup and Oceanbridge Sail Auckland regattas. The Auckland Regional Championships (Waller Cup) are scheduled for 20 April.
The 2013 Asia Pacific Access Class Championships is proudly supported by the ACT Government Community Centenary Initiatives Fund.
Follow Helena’s progress at the 2013 Centenary of Canberra Asia- Pacific Access Championships online the regatta website www.canberrayachtclub.com.au
