Hardy Cup - A great display of match racing on day 3

by Peter Campbell on 6 Feb 2014 Hardy Cup competitors from Australia, New Zealand and Singapore today turned on a great display of match racing for members of the host club, the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron, who were watching from the historic clubhouse at Kirribilli.

With a steady south-easterly breeze of 12-15 knots, race officers were able to set the course off Kurraba Point, within a few hundred metres of the club. The 11 teams responded with a day of close, tactical match racing in this Under 25, ISAF Grade 3 event.

It was another good day for the Squadron, too, with the RSYS’s Estate Master team, skippered by Jordan Reece, coming through the near completed Round Robin 2 unbeaten in nine match races today.

His wins in Round Robin 2 again included beating his nearest opponent, West Australian David Gilmour, who had eight wins and two losses.

Overall, Reece has now had 18 wins out of 19 races and seems certain to be the leading team going into the quarter finals tomorrow. David Gilmour has a 15/19 score, New Zealander Chris Steele 14/19, while Jay Griffin and his team from the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia is 13/18, today scoring seven wins in an uncompleted Round Robin 2.

Griffin lost to David Gilmour, but beat Chris Steele and Sam Gilmour but has yet to meet Jordan Reece in Round Robin 2.

One of the most impressive performances today came from Singapore’s Justin Lui with six wins and two defeats, including beaten the WA brothers, David Gilmour and Sam Gilmour. Overall, Lui has had 10 wins from 19 matches, equal fifth with WA’s Matthew Jerwood.

Provisional positions in the near completed Round Robin 2 are:

1. Jordan Reece (Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron, NSW) 18/19
2. David Gilmour (Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club, WA) 15/19
3. Chris Steele (Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron, NZ) 14/19
4. Jay Griffin (Cruising Yacht Club of Australia, NSW) 13/18
5. Matthew Jerwood (South of Perth Yacht Club, WA) 10/19
5. Justin Lui (Singapore National Sailing Centre, Singapore) 10/19
7. Sam Gilmour (Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club, WA) 8/19
8. Adam Middleton (Royal Port Nicholson Yacht Club, NZ) 7/18
9. Sam Ellis (Gosford Sailing Club, NSW) 4/20
10. Andy Green (Cruising Yacht Club of Australia, NSW) 3/19
11. Malcolm Parker (Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club) 1/19.