Line 7 Womens Match Racing Nationals - Samantha Norman wins hard fight

by Georgia Witt, RNZYS on 17 Apr 2016 Samantha Norman, representing the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron, has taken the title of New Zealand Women’s Match Racing Champion for 2016.

In a nail-biting final match with Zoe Bennett from the RPNYC, it was a battle of North vs South and Experience vs Youth.

Samantha and her team of Jenna Hansen, Hanna Hielkema, and Kate Ellingham took the title with three wins and one loss, describing the regatta as “hard work but lots of fun!”.

Second-placed Zoe Bennett with her crew of Kate Johnson-Lee, Amy Anderson and Paige Cook, sailed a strong day to make the finals after qualifying first from the Round Robins. At 17 years old Zoe was the youngest skipper competing and commented that she was “stoked with the result”.

Third-placed Stephanie Kirkman, representing the RNZYS Youth Training Programme with her crew of Celia Willison, Anna Merchant, and Catriona Stanton, faced CYCA’s Lauren Gallaway in the Petit Final with two wins against Laurens 1.
Fourth-placed Lauren Gallaway, with her crew of Kat Stroinovsky, Rosie Lee and Angelique Kear, had a tough final day, scoring one win. She described the conditions as “very wet and very windy”.

At this morning’s briefing top ranked skipper Zoe Bennett chose to race against CYCA’s Lauren Gallaway in the semi-finals, winning in two straight matches to make the finals. Stephanie Kirkman was ranked second after the Round Robins and faced Samantha Norman in the semi-finals, losing one win against Samantha’s two.

At the prize giving RNZYS Commodore Andy Anderson thanked Line 7 Business Manager Danielle Lambert for her support of the regatta.

Line 7 brand manager Danielle commented at the prize giving “Line 7 has been on the backs of so many great Kiwi Sailors over the years, we are passionate about seeing it on the backs of our female yachties at this regatta and many to come!”.

The RNZYS was pleased to get the event off the ground after two years of it not running. Sailing Director Laurie Jury commented, “It’s great to have the support of Line 7 to back the event, we are looking forward to seeing the momentum that this weekend has created for Women’s Match Racing in New Zealand.”

Racing took place in the RNZYS Youth Training Programme Elliott 7 Metre yachts on the Auckland harbour right outside the Squadron, making it easy for spectator viewing.