Australia versus New Zealand in Hardy Cup

by Peter Campbell on 8 Feb 2006 An Australia versus New Zealand final is emerging in the Hardy Cup ISAF Grade 3 Match Racing Regatta being sailed on Sydney Harbour, with France thrown in to add to the international status of the event.

At the end of day two, Australian Seve Jarvin and his crew of Rob Bell and Sam Newton, representing the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia, head the standings in this prestigious under 25-year-old series with 10 wins and just one loss.

However, New Zealander Simon Minoprio and his crew of Ryan Houston and Hardon Goodrick, representing Vision Yachting at the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron, were also in top form today.

The Kiwis have scored eight wins and three losses after two days of match racing in the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron’s Elliot 6 sports boats.

Also throwing out a strong challenge on the second day of competition, sailed in south to south-easterly winds reaching 22 knots, was defending Hardy Cup champion Dunstan, representing the host club, the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron.

Dunstan and his crew of Ben Lamb and Andrew Hutchinson have scored eight wins and three losses, coming through undefeated in today’s round-robin racing.

Joining Jarvin, Minoprio and Dunstan in going through to the next round of the Hardy Cup is the French skipper Alexis Littoz-Baritel, representing the S.R.V. Annecy, and his Australian crew of Kyle Langford and Evan Walker, the second RSYS crew headed by Mark Dorling, and New Zealander Graeme Sutherland from Royal Akarana Yacht Club.

They each ended the round-robin series equal fourth, each scoring seven wins and four losses, but each beating the other.

The only all-women crew in the Hardy Cup, headed by Katie Spithill from Sydney’s Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club, just missed out on place in the top six teams, finish with six wins and five losses.

In today’s strong southerly winds that followed the overnight ‘southerly buster’, seamanship as well match-racing tactics proved to be deciding factors. Sharp gusts caught several crews off guard, with the Fremantle Sailing Club team having a ‘man overboard’ situation in one flight.

The CYCA crew certainly had an outstanding day on the water, their only loss being to New Zealander Graeme Sutherland from the Royal Akarana Yacht Club, their best win being against another Kiwi, Laurie Jury from the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron.

‘We out-foxed Jury with a dummy’ spinnaker set at the top mark,’ crewman Rob Bell said after the racing. ‘We pretended to hoist the kite as we rounded and Jury did the same; then we dropped our’s and luffed him up sharply, gaining a couple of deciding penalties,’ he explained.

Simon Minoprio, the 23-year-old Auckland sailor said he had had a ‘good day’ after losing the first two races, ‘We are the heaviest crew in the fleet and the fresher winds today were to our advantage.’

Minoprio is one of New Zealand’s most promising young sailors, mixing his match racing with ocean sailing. He sailed aboard the Kiwi supermaxi Maximus in the 2005 Maxi Worlds and on Konica Minolta in the recent Rolex Hobart Yacht Race,

Michael Dunstan, the defending Hardy Cup champion and also an ocean racing yachtsman, was also pleased with today’s results. ‘They were all wins after yesterday’s rather slow start…we had good wins against the New Zealanders Laurie Jury and Graeme Sutherland.’

Full results: www.rsys.com.au/regattas/hardycup