RNZYS crew take Warren Jones hat-trick

by John Roberson on 3 Feb 2006 Adam Minoprio of the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron made it three in a row for the family when he won the Warren Jones Youth Regatta match racing, on Perth's Swan River, beating local skipper Keith Swinton 2 - 1 in the final.

Adam's brother Simon won the two previous events, with Adam as mainsheet trimmer last year.

‘Stoked,’ was his quick answer to how he felt, ‘it hasn't really sunk in yet,’ he continued, as he stood dripping on the dockside after being thrown into the river by his crew.

He showed great maturity to make two comebacks in the regatta, firstly when he was down in sixth place at the end of the opening day, then from 1 - 0 down in the best of three final.

‘The first day wasn't too good, then we just stepped it up from there on,’
was how he described the first comeback, ‘we nearly lost it in the first race of the final, then we just got it back, it was awesome,’ he said of the second opportunity.

Keith Swinton was a tough opponent, taking the first race of the final, when he got control of the left hand side of the course, but just couldn't repeat the perscription after that.

‘He just really got the wood on us the the pre-start,’ confessed Swinton, ‘he sailed really well, he got the left in the second two races, and the left paid.’

Minoprio and Swinton had made their way to the final after a three way tie in the double round robin had to be resolved, with these two and Graeme Sutherland from Auckland's Royal Akarana Yacht Club all finished with 17 points.

Sutherland went on to sail against Sydney's Seve Jarvin in the petit final, losing in two straight races.

The final day was sailed in classic Perth conditions, with the seabreeze coming in early, and building through the morning, to establish a steady 12 to 15 knots.

The Warren Jones Youth Regatta was hosted by the Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club.

RESULTS:

1 Adam Minoprio NZL
2 Keith Swinton AUS
3 Seve Jarvin AUS
4 Graeme Sutherland NZL
5 Torvar Mirsky AUS
6 Alastair Hall GBR
7 Murray Gordon AUS
8 Robert Gibbs AUS
9 Mark Dorling AUS
10 Alexis Littoz-Baritel FRA
11 Tom Barker AUS
12 Rob Scrivenour AUS