Women’s Match Racing Regatta at CYCA - Day 1 overall

by Jennifer Crooks on 9 Feb 2013 Marinassess Women’s Match Racing Regatta is being over the weekend of Saturday 9th and Sunday 10th February, 2013. Kathleen Stroinovsky and her crew of Lucinda Whitty, Samantha Boyd and Kate Brown, representing the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron, lead in commanding style having won all their matches today.

The regatta, hosted by the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia Youth Sailing Academy, is sponsored by leading marine insurer Marinassess, and is sailed on the Elliott 6.0m boats.

'It’s good to finish the day with seven bullets,' Stroinovsky said this afternoon. 'I haven’t been match racing for two years, so it was really valuable having Lucinda (Whitty) onboard today - she helped out with tactics. We had a pretty relaxed feel on the boat with lots of communication,' Stroinovsky added. Whitty has previously had her name engraved on the stunning crystal Marinassess trophy four times, when she was developing her match racing skills at the CYCA Youth Sailing Academy.

Sitting in second place is Tara McCall with her crew of Angelique Kear, Anna Szili and Lauren Gallaway, representing the host club, the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia. 'It’s been great to sail against the girls we’ve trained with all year round. We had a tough match against Rayshele Martin – she got a penalty on us early and we had to work hard upwind to put enough distance between us so that we could take our penalty turn.

'We got a penalty on her in the last downwind leg to come away with the win. Our only loss today was to Kat (Stroinovsky) – it was a tight match.

'Our crew work improved throughout the day - some of our best matches were our last few. We were spurred on by the gourmet lunch provided by Lauren’s mum – quiches, cupcakes and lots of little treats throughout the day,' McCall added.

Rayshele Martin (CYCA) sits in third position 'The girls (Ali Sutherland, Erica Kirby and Charlotte Holliday) did a good job of backing me up, as it’s the first match racing regatta I’ve helmed. We are a new crew and we’re still trying to work out our communication. It got tough as the wind picked up this afternoon but we still managed to keep the boat going fast,' Martin added.

In control on the youngest team in this regatta, Emma May had a tough day only winning one match but still had fun. 'We’re a very light crew, so when the breeze came in, it was tough. We had a couple of problems – in one match our kite went under the boat and in another Catriona went for a swim!'

Describing her two matches against Stroinovsky, May said 'the first match she just got away from us and we couldn’t catch her and in the second the distance between us wasn’t as huge.'

Of her winning match, May said 'Our opponent (Rosie Lee) got a penalty and had a wineglass in her spinnaker. Everything just worked for us in that match.'

'Tomorrow’s a new day and we’re learning more each match. Our crew work is coming together and we’ve had a few interesting moments,' May concluded.

Racing was conducted in the vicinity of Rushcutters Bay in a predominantly north nor’easterly breeze of 12-15 knots with occasional gusts of 19-24 knots. Race Officer Stephen Merrington completed round robin one and the first match of round robin two. 'There was good close racing on display today especially as it’s some of the skippers’ first competitive regatta,' Merrington said.

Chairman of the Training and Development Committee CYCA Director Anthony Dunn said 'The CYCA would like to thank Marinassess and past Commodore John Messenger for the ongoing sponsorship of this regatta, women’s match racing and the Youth Sailing Academy.

'The standard of racing was high today with many close matches. I look forward to presenting the trophy to the winning team at the official prizegiving tomorrow,' Dunn added.

This year, the Youth Sailing Academy celebrates its 20th anniversary and will celebrate with the launch of the new fleet of Elliott 7.0m boats in August and an Alumni function.

Hosted by the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia, racing is being conducted on the Youth Sailing Academy Elliott 6s and continues through until tomorrow, Sunday 10 February. The Bureau of Meteorology is predicting north to north easterly winds of 10-15 knots ahead of a southerly change 15 to 25 knots in the middle of the day.

Current standings after Round Robin 1 and one flight of Round Robin Two:
(Placing, Skipper, Yacht Club, Wins/Losses)
1st Kathleen Stroinovsky (RSYS) 7 wins 0 losses
2nd Tara McCall (CYCA) 5 wins 1 loss (bye at hand)
3rd Rayshele Martin (CYCA) 5 wins 2 losses
4th Milly Bennett (RPAYC) 4 wins 3 losses
5th Greta Quealy (CYCA) 2 wins 5 losses
6th Emma May (CYCA) 1 win 6 losses
7th Rosie Lee (CYCA) 0 wins 7 losses