Talented youth sailors turn it on at states
BY HARRY FISHER
JUST less than 70 junior boats took to the water for the Musto South Australian Youth State Championship on April 2 and 3 with plenty of close and competitive racing on display.
The optimists, bics and internationals cadets had the largest fleets, while there was also great performances from the lasers, 420s and one 29er.
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| Angus Higgins and Josh Tonkin in Double Trouble were third in the 420s. Photos: Down Under Sail |
The event capped off a great season of competitive youth fleet racing in South Australia including the South Australian Youth Tri Series, which took place over three separate weekends at three clubs before Christmas.
Credit must go to Ella Konings and Sarah Short in Interstellar, who made up the only 29er on the water and had some fast spinnaker rides in the stronger winds on the Saturday.
Fresh out of an optimist, Ella showed her skill on the helm while Sarah’s experience came in handy on the wire.
Optimist open
In the 19-strong optimist open fleet, Jonas Barrett in Sharky finally broke through and took out the regatta win after falling just short in each of the Tri Series events.
Jonas sailed very consistently to take out the overall result, three points clear of one of his Brighton and Seacliff rivals Quinn Auricht in Bring It On.
Adelaide Sailing Club’s Ben Hinks in Zig Zag capped off a great season in the optimist finishing third overall and is now in preparation for the European Optimist Championship in Crotone, Italy in July.
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| Alexi Wigglesworth sailed in the optimist open fleet. |
Optimist intermediate
For the first time at a Yachting South Australia event this season, the fleet was able to be split in to three groups to allow for an intermediate fleet of six boats.
Goolwa Aquatic Club’s Will Howard, sailing Chicken Dinner, was the standout in his fleet coming away with five out of the eight race wins and finishing six points clear of second.
He was followed by Adelaide Sailing Club sailors James Wilson in Jaws 2.0 in second and Connor O’Brien in Squid in third.
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| Connor O’Brien sailed in the optimist intermediate fleet. |
Optimist green
The optimist green fleet had a strong showing with 11 boats on the water and some fantastic improvement over the weekend of sailing.
With strong winds hitting the regatta on the Saturday, the green fleet was only able to finish one race and therefore got an early start on the Sunday to end up completing a total of seven races throughout the weekend.
Goolwa Aquatic Club’s Albert Howard in Gustly finished the regatta off strongly with four wins in the final four races to bring home the title, which was a great effort considering he retired from the opening race of the series.
In second place was Largs Bay Sailing Club’s Fraser Baker in No Rush whose successful opening day helped him to an early lead, followed by fellow Largs sailor Murphy Cowen in Gem in third.
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| Albert Howard won the optimist green fleet. |
O’pen bic
The o’pen bic fleet had its best showing for the year with a total of 11 boats on the water competing for the state championship.
The fleet was also boosted by guest appearances from two of the classes top sailors from around Australia – Michael Parks in Swoosh from the Royal Geelong Yacht Club in Victoria and Talia Bulstrode in Bixciting from the Tinaroo Sailing Club in Queensland.
These two sailors were outstanding and finished first and second overall respectively, with Michael taking out six of the eight race wins and Talia claiming the other two.
In third place overall and finishing as the first placed South Australian was Adelaide Sailing Club’s Harry Mitton in Big Bic closely followed by Goolwa Aquatic Club’s Hugo Spees in Weet-Bics in fourth (second South Australian) and Adelaide Sailing Club’s Jake Wilson in Muzz in fifth (third South Australian).
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| Harry Mitton was the first placed South Australian and third overall in the bic fleet. |
International cadet
The international cadet fleet has been one of the most competitive South Australian fleets all season and the Youth States weekend was no exception with only seven points separating the top three.
Port Lincoln Yacht Club’s Sam Paynter and Gil Casanova in Full Speed Ahead took out the overall regatta win after sailing consistently throughout the weekend.
This team continues to improve as they prepare for the world championship in Argentina later this year.
In second place was Adelaide Sailing Club’s Isobel Royle and Emily Ward in Vela while Largs Bay Sailing Club’s Elise Franson and Rachel Huczko in Cheeky Monkeys finished third.
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| Jack Kretschmer and Chloe Huczko (Largs Bay SC) sailed their first regatta in an international cadet. |
420
A competitive fleet of six 420s made the trip to Largs Bay for the Youth States with Brighton and Seacliff boats making up the majority of the entry list.
Fresh off a third place at the recent national championship in Sydney, Brighton’s Matt Meaney and Sam Magarey in Rampage finished as the overall winners sailing consistently in all breezes.
They were closely followed by fellow Brighton sailors Alex Magarey and Matthew van Riel in Yahoo in second and Angus Higgins and Josh Tonkin in Double Trouble in third.
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| Matt Meaney and Sam Magarey in Rampage won the 420 racing. |
Laser 4.7
The weekend began with two laser 4.7s and two laser radials so the sailors decided to all use 4.7 rigs in order to constitute a series.
The radial sailors were always going to have a slight experience advantage on the younger 4.7 sailors but everyone took a lot away from the weekend and all had some great results.
Port Lincoln’s Ash Dyer, sailing Xtremely Grateful finished the weekend as the overall winner, taking out seven of the eight race wins ahead of Adelaide Sailing Club’s John Gordon in Southern Raider.
Adelaide’s Sarah Dredge in Elviento finished third overall followed by Beth Leach in fourth.
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| Ash Dyer finished first in the laser 4.7 fleet. |
For full results from the regatta click here.
For more information about Down Under Sail contact editor Harry Fisher at[email protected]
