Souter beats Spithill Harken Women’s International

by Lisa Ratcliff on 13 Mar 2006 Nicky Souter and her crew were this afternoon crowned Harken Women’s International Match Racing Regatta champions having put an end to the momentum of defending champion Katie Spithill with a 3-0 result in the finals.

After winning both round robins, Spithill went into today’s finals the favourite for a back to back win but Souter made a late charge to claim the top spot.

In the first race of the finals, Spithill guarded the right hand side of the course and was leading Souter until she received a red flag penalty which gave Souter the break, and her first win.

After an even start in race 2, Souter took the lead at the top mark and never looked back while in race 3, Spithill came out with guns blazing. Her aggressive tactics resulted in a penalty on Souter who was trailing. Eventually the two came together in a downwind luffing and gybing duel and Souter got the inside running, extending enough of a lead on the next upwind leg to burn off her penalty and take the gun in the final deciding race.

'Usually Katie has the upper edge in the breeze but on this occasion, we ‘maxed out’ the Elliott 6 and had better speed,' said a delighted Souter, ranked 16 in the International Sailing Federation’s latest women’s match racing rankings.

'Our spinnaker work gave us the edge. We were able to get the kite up fast and drawing quickly which was difficult in today’s breeze,' she added.

Joining Souter for this regatta was Clare Brown, 'the comedian of the team', and gold medal youth 420 sailor Rayshele Martin on the bow. Martin was able to use her past experience gybing symmetrical kites to give the crew the leading edge downwind while Genevieve White, who completed three legs of the last Volvo Ocean Race, was 'exceptionally strong on the [main] sheet and a valuable stabilising force in the team,' reported her team mates following their win.

In a coup for the Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club on Sydney’s northern beaches, they have claimed first and second place while in the petite finals the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron team, skippered by the 36th ranked Jess Smyth, put the kibosh on the 12th ranked French skipper Christelle Phillipe, sailing her first Harken Women’s Regatta, to finish third.

Nina Curtis, also from the RPAYC, had a brilliant final day, finishing 5th overall after clocking up 5 wins, while Sam Boyd was the host Club’s best placed skipper with a 6th.

After some testing conditions, including a 25 knot southerly on Day 2 and crew injuries on Day 1 and 2, Sydney turned on its best for the petite finals and finals with a picture perfect day of sea breezes which built to 18 knots and plenty of warm autumn sunshine.

'Coming at the end of International Women’s Week, the Harken Women’s International is an exciting event and a great opportunity to further develop women’s sailing,' said organiser Jenni Bonnitcha.

She and Carl Watson, managing director of Harken Oceania, took the opportunity at tonight’s prize giving to thank the competitors, particularly those who had travelled great distances to compete, and the volunteer umpires and race officials for their outstanding race management.

Watson advised the group that Peter and Olif Harken from Harken Inc are well aware of this regatta’s great outcomes and promised that 'next year’s Harken Women’s International will be bigger and better'.

He also surprised organisers and competitors by presenting Harken gift vouchers to the top three placegetters with a $1,000 voucher going to the winners, $800 to second and $600 to the third placed team.