The Winter Match Racing Programme sailors concluded their winter training on the weekend of the 28 and 29 August, with a Grade 5 match racing regatta held out of the Royal Port Nicholson Yacht Club. The plan to do a round robin semis and final looked promising with 15 knots expected each day however this did not come to fruition.
The teams went out to do battle on Saturday morning with a shifty Northerly breeze. The wind slowly died and the race committee had to shift the course. While doing this the heavens opened with a downpour of torrential rain which caused the wind to completely die.
As a 10 knot Northeaster filled in racing continued until the round robin was completed. The points were close. Josh Cook and his team of Ollie Rolfe, Isaac Paterson and Hannah Corke were ahead of James McLean, Alex Paterson and Stuart Williams on count-back with 4 wins a piece close behind in third was Nick Thyne, Tom Rowland and Theo deJong.
(L to R: Ollie Rolfe, Hannah Corke, Josh Cook and Isaac Paterson).
Sunday dawned again with the promise of 15 knots, the sailors were excited with Semis and Finals planned. However the wind died a lot earlier than the day before and the chances of getting the full schedule completed was slim. The race committee got away one race. However this was not enough to decide a winner so the results in the round robin stood.
A big thank you to the umpires John Grace, Steve Macris, Phil McDowell and Dave Gautrey along with the volunteers on the start boat Roger Cook and Mike Francis who all braved the wet conditions.
The Youth Scheme has a very busy month ahead. There are regattas being run in the Elliot 6's every weekend back to back until the end of September. Although challenging it will be a great kick start to the season for the sailors.
First up this weekend is the Winter Match Racing Series One regatta. This regatta is run for the Winter Match Racing Programme which has introduced 23 young dinghy sailors to the match racing format of sailing. It is a ISAF grade 5 event which means the young skippers will leave the event with a world ranking.
Next up is the Central Region Interclub Regatta on the 4 and 5 September where Youth Scheme Sailors will be featuring in both the RPNYC and Worser Bay teams to take on the talent from the greater Wellington Region.
The Under 21 and Women's Squads will then have a Grade 5 event on the 11 and 12 September which will be great practice leading up to the NZ Youth Nationals.
Then it will be the turn for the Wellington Secondary Schools to go head to head to decide the College Sport Wellington Match Racing Champs. These teams have been training weekly in preparation for this event on the 18 and 19 September.
Lastly is the big one the 2010 NZ Youth Match Racing National Champs. With teams from Christchurch, Marlborough, Wellington, Auckland, and Napier all expressing interest for an invitation you can be sure the best Youth Match Racers will be in town to have a shot at the title. So come down and support the RPNYC teams who are vying to win back the Warren 'Wolfie' Williams memorial trophy which was won by RPNYC in 2007 and 2008.
All racing will held in the inner harbour so make sure you check out the action.
The 2010 Wellington Secondary Schools Match Racing Programme has begun with seven schools currently training every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday evenings. Each School team is using these sessions to prepare for the 2010 College Sport Wellington Match Racing Championships on the 18th and 19th of September.
Last year’s defending champions Wellington College will be entering a team to try and retain the title however Aotea College and Wellington High School have a strong presence with two teams entered from each school. All teams are relatively close in training so it should be a great competition.
Three young Wellington sailors start racing at their respective world championships this weekend.
The Berry Sisters, Emma and Sarah, are in the Hague Holland to compete in the 2010 470 World Championships. You can follow the 470 action at www.470worlds2010.com.
Meanwhile Josh Porebski begins racing for the NZL Youth Sailing Team at the 2010 Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championships in Istanbul Turkey. You can follow the ISAF Youth Worlds action at www.isafyouthworlds.com.
Wellington's Josh Porebski who is a member of the Port Nicholson Yachting Trust Youth Scheme has been selected in the New Zealand Team to compete at the 2010 Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championships.
Josh earned his selection by teaming up with Napier’s Naomi Mannering in the hobie 16 class at this year’s national championships. The pair won the youth division against some top competition including Chris Steele, former Optimist World Champion. The Hobie association then nominated the pair for selection into the New Zealand Team. They were then selected as the Open Multi Hull Reps.
Josh joins the list of Wellington sailors who have recently competed at the Youth Worlds including, Josh Junior, Emma and Sarah Berry, Cushla Hume-Merry and Tim Coltman.
The Youth Worlds kick off on the 8th of July in Istanbul, Turkey, Josh’s progress can be followed at www.isafyouthworlds.com. Good Luck.
The Youth Scheme has just completed its latest round of fitness testing for sailors in the Under 21 and Women’s Match Racing Squads. The Scheme tries to run at least three or four tests a year. The test is made up of an ERG test on the rowing machines, max pull ups/sit ups/press ups/step ups, a flexibility test and weight/height measurements.
Sgt Davey Forbes who trains the sailors each week comes in to conduct the test, making sure no one gets away with a half press up or a not quite 'up' pull up.
Competition is always high during the test, with sailors not just wanting to beat their own times but also beat each other. Below William Eastman and Jackson MacFarlane demonstrate the effort that is put in.
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