Alfred's team wins 2003 W.O.M.E.N. Match Racing regatta

by Nicole Amos in conjunction with Sailsportz, RPAYC on 2 Sep 2003 Nicky Souter and her crew of Stacey Jackson and Nina Curtis from Sydney’s Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club have won the ‘WOMEN 2003’ Grade 2 Match Racing Regatta.

They defeated defending champion, Katie Spithill, and her crew of Rochanne Barrett and Emma Bullough 3-0 in the final, sailed on Pittwater yesterday under cloudless skies and in westerly conditions reaching 18 kts.

Souter’s team clearly showed the benefit of 4 months of practice during the just completed Youth Development Program at the host Club.

Looking a tad rusty in the Elliott 5.9 m yachts, Spithill (World ranking 15), led on countback at the end of the double round robin phase. In the repechage stage which followed, Spithill crossed paths with Souter (World ranking 34) on two occasions before the final round, and whilst she appeared to control the starts on many occasions, she had no answer to Souter’s boatspeed, or the acuity of her team in the gusty and shifty conditions.

This was particularly apparent in the third and decisive match of the final when during a right hand phase, Spithill took the early lead following a split tack start to the right, but was slow to consolidate allowing Souter just enough room to breathe on the left (which had been a source of regular pressure during the morning).

Souter escaped to sniff out new pressure to the left and in just 60 secs and three tacks turned a 20 metre deficit into a 20 metre lead that she defended to take the title comfortably.

In third place was New Zealand’s top-ranked female match racer, Aimee Famularlo from the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron along with Sonya Swinburne and Briar Macky. These girls looked particularly strong in the fresh to survival conditions that existed from time to time on Saturday and resulted in a number of knockdowns and spinnaker broaches. Fourth place went to the CYCA team of Jacqui Bonnitcha, Tneal Kawalla and Elizabeth Walsh.

Next up on the women’s match race calendar is the Australian Championships in Hobart commencing September 11, where Spithill will clearly have her work cut out to defend that title.

Results

1st Nicky Souter, Stacey Jackson, Nina Curtis (RPAYC)

2nd Katie Spithill, Rochanne Barrett, Emma Bullough (RPYAC)

3rd Aimee Famularo, Sonya Swinburne, Briar Macky (RNZYS)

4th Jacqui Bonnitcha, Tneal Kawalla and Elizabeth Walsh (CYCA)

5th Kylie Mara, Sam Chidgey, Sally O’Brien (CYCA)

6th Anne Durham, Lisa Sherman, Felicity Wellman (RPYAC)