Issue date
Four kiwi 420 crews are in Fremantle Western Australia lining up against their Aussie counter-parts in a double-header in the youth double handed class – the Australian 420 National Championships, which wrapped up on January 3rd is closely followed by the Australian Youth National Championships which gets underway today.
Angus Haslett reports on the final day of the Aussie Nationals, final results for the kiwi crews were as follows;
Haslett/Mitchell 11th (9,6,6,DNC,DNC,10,14,11,9,7,10,13)
Weston/Balogh 13th (10,9,12,29,18,11,22,12,12,11,7,11)
Mannering/Stoodley 14th (12,11,15,33,6,20,12,15,37,1716,29)
Copeland/Stenhouse 24th (15,20,21,28,15,25,37,34,22,14,13,28)
Racing for the final day was a 10.00am scheduled start and from experience over the past week it was a little dubious that the breeze would be in by then. None the less when the boats headed out there was a steady 6-7 knot offshore breeze and a start looked hopeful. But as it has done over the week the land breeze died off and the sea breeze then takes over, so a few course changes and a little sitting around before the Doctor arrived and a start for the final race was made in 8 knots - that pretty steadily built to 18-20 knots by the end of the race.
After two general recalls and mounting pressure on the leaders as the black flag came out, a clear start was had and the favoured left hand side was held by Weston/Balogh in a handy position, however it was Haslett/Mitchell who rounded the top mark as lead kiwis after spending an extended time on the right hand side, a tactic they tried on subsequent legs that did not pay-off as the left continued to hold and they eventually finished 13th. Weston/Balogh sailed the last down wind beat well and a good move, picking up on a Haslett/Mitchell error, saw them gain two places on the last reach to take out an 11th. It was not the day for our kiwi girls and they both finished deep.
In the lighter air the heavier Australian combination of Carlsberg/Gilmour were under pressure but still sailed strongly and they finished a credible 6th to take overall first place by a clear 10 points from the Hong Kong crew who won the last race but ended 10 points behind. The speed and balance and great positioning of the top 5 sailors and the ability to maintain good consistent placing's over the regatta separated them from the rest of the fleet. Skippers and past Opti World's sailors Alec Brodie, James Grogan, and Tom Cunich all finished in the top 10 showing that the Australians have some good depth in their 420's and they are matched by the top Australian girls combination, skippered by Nia Jerwood another Opti Worlds sailor who finished a handy 6th. A strong signal the kiwis have some work to do for the second regatta.
All of the kiwis have benefitted from sailing in a larger fleet, the great conditions and excellent race management the Fremantle Sailing Club have put on, has resulted in a superb first learning regatta for the teams and they are all looking forward to putting more learning into the next regatta, the Australian Youth Championships, that start on the 7th of January. To have two regattas of this quality one after the other is a unique and valuable experience for the NZ 420 sailors. With boats refined, more familiarity with what to expect and fingers crossed for no more illnesses it should be another fabulous regatta for the teams.
The Australians put a lot into the opening and closing ceremonies, the opening was a cocktail party whilst the closing was a full sit down dinner - with guest speaker, Wild Oats skipper, Mark Richards. A fantastic night and a great way to celebrate and recognise the success of the sailors and of course the location and wonderful Fremantle Sailing Club (FSC) truly helped. A fantastic array of trophies and awards with nice recognition from Yachting Australia. Congratulations to Ava Mannering and Lola Stoodley who collected third placed female crew. Of note was the number of younger Australian crews (not lighter necessarily) getting in early to the 420, a general observation was they were in the 420 around 6 months to a year earlier than most of our kiwi sailors - and it is possibly one reason for their better results.
The Australian 420 Association has to be thanked for their hospitality shown to the NZ crews in particular Peter Gilmour and Tim Grogan (420 President) were extremely kind with their offers of assistance and support. The race management and organisation was superb and the sailors truly recognised and appreciated this, a huge number of FSC helpers made a difference but the effort they too put in was amazing to be part of.
