Issue date
The 2019 Volvo Yachting Excellence Awards are just around the corner and some winners have already been announced. In the first of a three-part series, meet the winners in the youth performance category.
Brayden Hamilton and Pat Morgan (Wakatere Boating Club, Kohimarama Yacht Club)
Pat, left, and Brayden pictured with Yachting New Zealand head youth coach Matt Thomas.
Brayden and Pat narrowly missed out on a medal at the 29er world championships in Poland. The pair were the only combination to win two gold fleet races in a field of 45 boats and that helped them jump up dramatically from the 23rd they found themselves in at the end of qualifying. Brayden and Pat also won the 29er at both the Oceanbridge NZL Sailing Regatta and Sir Peter Blake Regatta and were third at the 29er Auckland champs and 29er national champs.
Blake Hinsley and Nicholas Drummond (Bucklands Beach Yacht Club)
Blake and Nicholas were second at this year's RS Feva world championships in Italy and third overall. They sailed consistently well with four top-three finishes, including a race win, in the field of 200 boats from 23 countries. Blake and Nick also won the RS Feva national championships sailed in fresh winds and big seas at Torbay and Blake claimed the 2019 Tanner Cup in P Class sailing.
Ted Houry (Bay of Islands Yacht Club)
Ted has shown great potential in a range of different boats in his short sailing career. The 13-year-old, who picked up the sport only two years ago, was second in the under-13 division at this year’s O’pen Bic (now O'pen skiff) world championships, third at last year’s European challenge and winner of the O’pen Bic sportsmanship award for outstanding perseverance at the 2018 O’pen Bic world champs. On top of that, he was the youngest sailor to win the Banging the Corners Cup at the inaugural Foil Bay of Islands, third at the Pacific Games and first in the 6.9 rig at the WASZP national champs.
Seb Menzies and Blake McGlashan (Murrays Bay Sailing Club)
Photo: Sailing Energy / World Sailing
Seb and Blake are two of this country’s most talented young sailors. The pair comfortably won gold in the boy’s 420 at this year’s youth sailing world championships and their win in Poland came soon after collecting silver at the 420 world championships in Portugal. The pair also dominated the Australasian scene, winning the 420 national championships, Oceanbridge NZL Sailing Regatta, Australian 420 national championships and Australian 420 youth trials. Seb also claimed the WASZP national title and was part of the Rangitoto College team who won the national secondary schools teams racing title.
Helena Sanderson and Jack Honey (Bay of Islands Yacht Club)
Photo: Sailing Energy / World Sailing
Helena and Jack narrowly missed out on a medal in the Nacra 15 at this year's youth sailing world championships. The pair, who were competing in their first major international regatta, sailed consistently well and gave themselves a shot of a medal with a strong finish but fell three points off a place on the podium. They dominated the local scene, winning every regatta of note, and were also the second youth team at this year’s Tornado world championships in Auckland.
Vento Racing (Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron)
The Vento Racing team of Jordan Stevenson, Mitch Jackson, George Angus, Jake Erson won the Grand Slam match racing series, the second time in as many years a team from New Zealand had won the title. They won two (Thompson Cup and Detroit Cup) of the four events that make up the Grand Slam and it helped Stevenson jump to a career-high 14th on the world match racing rankings. Vento Racing also won the Harken Youth International Match Racing Championships, were second at the Nespresso Youth International Match Racing Cup, third at the Australian Open Match Racing Championships and fifth at the Governor's Cup.
- Tickets to the dinner can be purchase here or, for more information, contact Monique de Sousa on monique@yachtingnz.org.nz.
