Issue date
Markus Somerville and Jack Simpson from Auckland’s Wakatere Boating Club have won silver at the 2013 29er class World Championships just finished at Arhus, Denmark.
Twenty-five nations representing all continents sailed at the 2013 29er World Championships with 213 entries (426 sailors) in a highly competitive fleet. The 29er is a two-handed skiff which is a pre-cursor class to the Olympic 49er skiff sailed by Peter Burling and Blair Tuke.
Racing on the final day of the regatta on Kaløvig Bay in Arhus was perfect with sunny skies and 8-15 knots. ISAF Youth World champions Lucas Rual and Emile Amoros (FRA) were the overall winners adding the title of 29er World Champions to their list of accolades.
New Zealand coach Jim Maloney gives his perspective on the regatta and Markus and Jack’s silver medal performance;
“Markus and Jack sailed a very good regatta and were the only other team in the fleet with a shot at the title going into the last race. The French team did their job to protect their lead with a nice cover on the boys during the first beat to guarantee winning the title.”
“I am very happy for the boys that all their hard work over the last year has truly paid off.”
“The event itself was awesome and the racing extremely competitive as reflected in the results. All three Kiwi teams can be extremely proud of their results as Isaac and Micah have spent a majority of the last four months sailing cats and Josh and Jack are a very young team who have improved heaps over the last several months and Jack is still only 14. The future is very bright for these young sailors.”
Markus and Jack sailed exceptionally well in Australia last summer, winning the 29er Australian National Championship, then returning to New Zealand to convincingly win both the New Zealand 29er National Championships and the 29er event at 2013 Oceanbridge Sail Auckland. In April they won the 29er division of the RYA Youth National Championships in Scotland going on to take bronze at the ISAF Youth World Championships in Cyprus in July.
New Zealand’s Final Results
2nd Markus Somerville and Jack Simpson (Wakatere Boating Club)
32nd Isaac McHardie (Hamilton Yacht Club/RAYC) and Micah Wilkinson (Ngaroto Sailing Club/RAYC)
64th Josh Handa and Jack Rogers (Murrays Bay Sailing Club)
Links:
Championship website
NZL Yachting Trust Youth Team sailor profiles
Yachting New Zealand website
