Australian schools team championship - John Bertrand in Hobart

by Peter Campbell on 3 Jul 2013 The 2013 Harcourts Australian Schools Team racing Championship new trophy will be presented by America’s Cup winning skipper John Bertrand and his wife, Rasa, who will visit Hobart late next week.

Bertrand, who in September will celebrate the 30th anniversary of the famous win by Australia II over the New York Yacht Club’s defender, Liberty, at Newport, Rhode Island, will watch 26 school teams from around Australia contest the teams championship on the River Derwent.

'I loved seeing the kids last year on Albert Park Lake (Melbourne) doing their thing,' Bertrand said. 'Team racing is a fabulous show case for the sport of sailing and Rasa and I look forward to being part of the presentation.’

Sandy Bay Sailing Bay Sailing Club, the Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania and Yachting Tasmania have joined forces to conduct the Yachting Australia-listed regatta from Wednesday, July 10 through to Saturday, July 13.

Racing will be in a fleet of YT one-design dinghies with each school team comprising three boats, sailed by a crew of two.

Unlike fleet racing, or match racing, which are contests between individual boats, team racing comprises a contest between three boats from one team (school) and three boats from another school sailed over a short, but demanding course.

In a contest that requires good sailing, tactical decisions and knowledge of the racing rules of sailing, the optimum outcome in each race is a high team result in the six boat contest, rather than just one high individual result.

Six Tasmanian schools will be represented in the championships – St Virgils, Friends (2), Hutchins, Fahan and Launceston Church Grammar.

The Tasmanians schools team, which have been training regularly during the winter, include some of the State’s most promising young sailors, both as skippers and crews. There are five girls among the skippers.

Interstate teams will come from Queensland (4), Victoria (5), the ACT (3), South Australia (3), New South Wales (3) and Western Australia (2).