Yachting WA Secondary Schools Team Racing Championships

by Jenny Honeybun on 3 May 2014 The WA Secondary Schools' Teams Racing Championships finished in a finals battle between Christchurch and Shenton College. For the first time in a while, the annual Yachting WA event was hosted away from the Swan River. Mandurah Offshore Sailing and Fishing Club put forward their bid and offered their club and a racing area unlike any other.

Teams racing on the estuary in full public view of the cappuccino strip, the shopping precinct and hotels were a novel experience and the sailors families, supporters, locals and holiday makers took to it with great interest acclaiming the venue a success. After some initial trepidation, the new venue was hailed a success providing an even course for all entrants.

Christchurch 'A' team finished on top with Lachy Gilmour and his team of Max Giudice, Brendon Wright, Aaron Wright, Liam Forrester, Alex Shearer and John Hinton, enjoying undefeated success over the three day event. The team was coached by Sam Gilmour.

Shenton College in second position have emerged strongly over the past few years won’t be the underdog for long. Coached by Matthew Jerwood, the team comprised Hayden Hunt, Andrew Henderson, Oliver Medd, Daniel Judge, Emilia Horn, Holly Hunt and Bella Owen-Conway.

Sixteen teams including teams from Mandurah, Rockingham and Esperance sailed in light breezes with a strong tidal influence. The semifinals were held in a patchy breeze that tested the skills of all the sailors and the four teams that got through were Aquinas College, Christ Church Grammar A, Hale School and Shenton College. Christ Church took little time in defeating Aquinas two nil and Shenton and Hale went to one a piece, before Shenton took the third race.

Despite the late arrival of the sea breeze, Christ Church had no surprises dealing with Shenton to take the finals out and became the first team to go through unbeaten in modern times. The final results were Christchurch Grammar A's first, Shenton College second, Hale School third, Aquinas College doueth and Christchurch B’s Yachting WA website