Issue date
New Zealand’s 29er boys crew has hit the lead on what was a mixed bag day for the NZL Yachting Trust Youth Team on the third day of competition at the 2015 ISAF Youth Sailing World Championships in Malaysia.
Like the opening two days, an offshore breeze continued to flow through, varying between 8-25 knots over the day. The sailors reported shifty conditions which made racing tricky and the wind was generally lighter for the earlier session (RS:X, Laser Radials and Boy’s 420) this morning.
Girl’s Laser Radial representative Ali Nightingale described a frustrating day where, “it was super shifty and I just couldn’t quite figure out what the wind was doing”.
She is currently sitting in 8th after placing 11, 18 and her male counterpart George Gautrey is sitting in 6th after posting 9, 16. That theme continued for the 420 boys who “had a bit of a mare,” posting 18, 20 to currently sit in 14th overall.
Fortunately it was not all doom and gloom. Far from it in fact with the boy’s 29er pair of Jackson Keon and Nick Egnot-Johnson pulling out another blinder. The boys now hold a commanding lead after adding another two race wins today to post 5, 1, 1 and take a seven point lead into the regatta lay day. Their female counterparts in the skiff, Kate and Greta Stewart, are currently in 4th after posting 5, 9, 7 during racing today.
The news just keeps getting better with the SL16 mulithulls actually getting in some racing after their supplied equipment was held up arriving to the Malaysian venue in a shipping delay. Four races even.
“Fizzing” (translates to really excited) to finally be on the water, kiwi representatives Tam Lindsay and William Mckenzie (pictured above © Christophe Launay) had a solid day scoring 2, 4, 2, 3. A couple of pitch poles may have been incorporated into their on the water experience but considering it was their second day ever sailing a SL16 they put in an impressive performance and currently sit in 4th overall.
In the most entertaining story of the day the 420 girls Kerensa Jennings and Chelsea Rees won their last race today in spectacular fashion. Holding a commanding lead on the last downwind, things spiralled slightly south resulting in a brief pause upside down. Their recovery was the stuff of legend as Chelsea bounced frantically up and down on the centreboard to pull their chariot back into the upright position, still clear ahead, and away they sailed to win the race. They are in 6th overall.
In the RS:X Finn Croft showed what he was capable of pulling out a 8th on the second race of the day. Lauren Mackenzie sailed consistently currently holding onto 10th position. Both of the boardies describe incredibly long physical days, which is accurately measured in the colossal amount of food they consume once they get in.
All the team (bar the lucky SL16 sailors who have some racing to make up) have a lay day tomorrow and will spend the day recovering from the last three days. Once they are back the regatta winds into the business end of the with only two days of racing left before the medals are decided on the 3rd of January.
With seven teams in the top ten and multiple in medal contention a few good stories should be made in the following days. Watch this space. And Happy New Year from the team.
2015 ISAF Youth World Sailing Championships
NZL Yachting Trust Youth Team current standings
1st Jackson Keon and Nick Egnot-Johnson – 29er boys – (5, 9, 8, 1, 1, 1, 5, 1, 1)
4th Tamryn Lindsay and William Mckenzie – SL16 – (2, 4, 2, 3)
4th Greta and Kate Stewart – 29er girls – (6, 8, 4, 1, 2, 2, 5, 9, 7)
6th George Gautrey – Laser Radial boys – (7, 2, 3, OCS, 9, 16)
8th Ali Nightingale – Laser Radial girls – (1, 19, 4, 5, 11, 18)
6th Kerensa Jennings and Chelsea Rees – 420 girls – (5, 2, 21, 12, 15, 1)
10th Lauren Mackenzie – RS:X girls – (5, 15, 10, 8, 9, 9, 10, 12, 14)
14th Jono Weston and Taylor Balogh – 420 boys – 14th (18, 19, 5, 2, 18, 20)
22nd Finn Croft – RS:X boys – (20, 20, 16, 14, 19, 21, 22, 8, 17)
Full results at isafyouthworlds.com/results/index.php
More about the ISAF Youth World Championships
The ISAF Youth World Championships feature racing for up and comers under 19 years of age and includes the Laser Radial, RS:X, 29er, 420 and SL16 classes. The regatta will gather together the world’s best youth sailors and will run from 27 December 2015 through until 3 January 2016 on the Malaysian island of Langkawi.
Plenty of the world’s best known yachtsmen and women have competed and medalled at the ISAF Youth World Championships which date back to 1971.
Among the list of New Zealanders to have stood on the ISAF Youth Worlds podium are Jo Aleh (2004 Silver, Laser Radial), Sir Russell Coutts (1979 Silver, Laser and 1981 Gold, Laser), Blair Tuke (2007 Silver, 29er), Dean Barker (1990 Gold, Laser and 1991 Silver, Laser) and Stuart Bannatyne (1989 Gold, Laser).
The ISAF run event is coming to the southern hemisphere for the first time in 15 years and as a consequence the NZL Yachting Trust Youth Team will miss Christmas and New Year in New Zealand with departure planned for 23 December. The last time the regatta was hosted south of the equator was in 2000 in Sydney, Australia.
The team is proudly supported by the following…
NZL Yachting Trust, Oceanbridge Shipping, ZHIK, HPSNZ
