Price leads Day 3 at Youth Match Racing World Championship

by Nancy Mellon on 3 Aug 2017 Harry Price (AUS) ended the day undefeated and alone at the top of the leaderboard at the Youth Match Racing World Championship hosted by Balboa Yacht Club.

The day's key match-up was Price and George Anyon (NZL) at the end of Round Robin 1. Both had been undefeated through their first ten matches.

After a closely-contested pre-start, Anyon gained control on the final approach to the line and won the start cleanly. Price had to tack away for clear air, but then Anyon became ensnared in dirty air from another match that was on their second upwind leg. Price had clear air on the upwind right, and was helped, too, by a bit of a right shift. He grabbed the lead and never looked back, winning by five boat lengths.

With a nice seven - eight knot late afternoon breeze, the Race Committee kept the sailors on the lumpy Pacific Ocean until nearly 1900 (7 pm), completing four flights of Round Robin 2. Price continued his winning ways, taking all four of those matches to end the day undefeated on 15-0.

Certainly the upset of the day was the Anyon-Whitfield match in Round Robin 2. Matt Whitfield (GBR) has been coming on strong and handed Anyon his second defeat of the day. Anyon led early, but Whitfield found some breeze on the second upwind leg to pull ahead. Despite the loss, Anyon still stands second overall on 13-2.

Ettore Botticini (ITA) lost an important match to American Greiner Hobbs (Tampa, FL) but won his other matched to end the day on 10-5. Hobbs had a stellar day, pulling his team even with Botticini on 10-5. The two are tied for third overall.

Local favorite, American Charlie Welsh of Newport Beach, is also in the hunt for a semi-final berth, ending the day fifth overall on eight - seven.

Round Robin racing for the twelve teams from nine nations (two from AUS, NZL and USA) continues tomorrow, with the top four teams advancing to the best-of-five knockout semi-finals. The semi-final winners will race head-to-head for the championship in a best-of-five finals on Saturday.