The Wellington Spirit turn in good result in the Spanish Open

Wellington Spirit. Calpe, Spain - Open de Espana James Sandall

Wellington spirit. Calpe. Spain - Open de Espana © James Sandall

'We had a very tight semi final against Keith Swinton and his Black Swan Racing Team from Perth' explained helmsman Josh Junior. 'It went right down to the wire with all five matches needed to decide between us. In the end full credit to the Black Swan Racing team. They deserved to take out the title as they have sailed very well all regatta'.

Following the semi finals the sail off for third was more straight forward with the Spirit winning two straight matches against World Match Racing Tour card holder Bjorn Hansen who is ranked sixth in the world.

'We are very pleased with how the sailing has panned out over here this week' said Wellington Spirit skipper Matt Steven. 'We came here to compete in our first grade one event and saw it as an excellent opportunity to gain some world ranking points which are important as we build towards qualifying for the world tour'.

'Our third place in this regatta is going to help us a great deal especially as there were so many highly ranked teams here this week' Steven explained.

It wasn't all plane sailing on the final day however. With the breeze gusting over 20knots, and with some tight match racing situations playing out, the odd clamaity was always going to be inevitable!

The team will now make their way back to Wellington where they will begin planning for an assualt on the American Grand Slam match racing tour in August this year.

Thanks to all of the Spirits supporters and the Royal Port Nicholson Yacht Club

Josh Junior
Matt Steven
James Sandall
Chris Jones