Harken Youth Match Racing Championship - Hazard leads after day 1

by Damian Devine on 23 Nov 2012

Day one leader Dave Hazard, right, in action. Damian Devine

Defending Harken Youth Match Racing Champion Dave Hazard representing the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron is the provisional leader after day one with eleven of the fourteen flights completed in the first round robin on Pittwater today, hosted by the Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club.

Hazard, the highest ranked match racer in the fleet and in his third and final Harken regatta was the favourite coming into the regatta particularly with the 2011 win under his belt.

After the 0830hrs race briefing, racing got underway at 1030hrs under RO Ted Anderson in a consistent 10-15 knot south easterly with a course set north of Scotland Island under Longnose Point.

The defending champion Hazard was completely dominant today with a perfect scorecard of six from six to finish on top of the leader board ahead of club compatriot Chris Steele who had one less match but also a perfect record to finish on five from five. They will race each other tomorrow in the final flight in what will be the most anticipated match of the round robin.

In fact, the RNZYS is commanded all the attention after day one with their third team, the all-female crew skippered by Claudia Pierce sitting in fourth place with four wins from seven starts today with the trio of teams only split by Sam Gilmour from WA’s Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club, currently in third with five wins from eight starts today.

Claudia Pierce and the all female crew from RNZYS. © Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron http://www.rnzys.org.nz

Commenting on the days racing the humble Hazard said dockside, 'Yeah, pretty happy with today’s effort. Pittwater was kind to us with a good, consistent breeze which made for a great day’s racing. The crew learnt a lot from the match ups and worked well together. We’re off to the best start possible but there’s still a long way to go and we’re not getting ahead of ourselves. We’ll see what happens tomorrow.'

The highest placed team from the host club, the Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club is Milly Bennett who had four wins to finish the day in fifth place.

The forecast for tomorrow is for a lighter 8-12 knot East South Easter under overcast skies and a top of 22 degrees. If the forecast rings true, it could be quite a fickle and challenging day on Pittwater as the race committee aim to complete round one and as much of round two as possible.

Day 1	Round One			Day 1	Round One
Flight	Match	Team	Winner	Flight	Match	Team	Winner
Flight 1	Match 1:	L.Bennett V Hazard	Harzard	Flight 11	Match 1:	Hazard V Stevens	Hazard
	Match 2:	Stevens V Ellis	Ellis		Match 2:	Doyle V M.Bennett	M.Bennett
	Match 3:	Steele V Gilmour	Steele		Match 3:	Gilmour V Pierce	Gilmour
				Day 2	Round One
Flight 2	Match 1:	L.Bennett V Pierce	Pierce	Flight 12	Match 1:
	Match 2:	Steele V M.Bennett	Steele		Match 2:
	Match 3:	Stevens V Gilmour	Gilmour		Match 3:

Flight 3	Match 1:	L.Bennett V McKensie	L.Bennett	Flight 13	Match 1:
	Match 2:	Stevens V M.Bennett	M.Bennett		Match 2:
	Match 3:	Hazard V Doyle	Hazard		Match 3:

Flight 4	Match 1:	M.Bennett V Ellis	M.Bennett	Flight 14	Match 1:
	Match 2:	Pierce V Hazard	Hazard		Match 2:
	Match 3:	Doyle V McKenzie	McKenzie		Match 3:

Flight 5	Match 1:	Ellis V Gilmour	Gilmour	Flight 15	Match 1:
	Match 2:	McKenzie V Hazard	Hazard		Match 2:
	Match 3:	Pierce V Doyle	Pierce		Match 3:

Flight 6	Match 1:	M.Bennett V Gilmour	Gilmour
	Match 2:	McKenzie V Pierce	Pierce
	Match 3:	Ellis V Steele	Steele

Flight 7	Match 1:	Gilmour V McKenzie	Gilmour
	Match 2:	L.Bennett V Doyle	Doyle
	Match 3:	Stevens V Steele	Steele

Flight 8	Match 1:	Gilmour V Hazard	Hazard
	Match 2:	Ellis V L.Bennett	Ellis
	Match 3:	McKenzie V Stevens	McKenzie

Flight 9	Match 1:	Pierce V Stevens	Stevens
	Match 2:	M.Bennett V L.Bennett	M.Bennett
	Match 3:	Gilmour V Doyle	Doyle

Flight 10	Match 1:	Stevens V L.Bennett	Stevens
	Match 2:	M.Bennett V Pierce	Pierce
	Match 3:	Steele V McKenzie	Steele