Walker leaves best till last, but Tasker leads

by Bernie Kaaks on 9 Oct 2006 Evan Walker went into the Parkland Mazda Australian Youth Match Racing Regatta, as a clear favourite, but found the going tough in the early round robins on the Swan River to find himself third on the leaderboard.

In his final encounter with ladder leader Luc Tasker, Walker allowed Tasker to take early control, seemingly content to be carried away from the line until 30 seconds before start time. A quick switch of direction caught Tasker napping and Walker charged over the line with a clear two boat length lead, which he held until the final downwind leg.

A gybe set by Walker seemed to catch Tasker unawares, forcing him to the wrong side of the course with spinnaker flogging inside the headsail. To his credit, Tasker worked his way back into the contest, establishing an overlap with 70 metres to go, with both boats on the right hand side and on starboard gybe with Walker on the outside. Tasker’s slick gybe for the line looked for a moment as though it might have given him the race, but Walker’s bow crossed just centimeters ahead, to end the closest race of the series and hand Tasker just his second defeat.

Brisk easterlies in the range of 20 to 25 knots kept competitors on their mettle, but with flat water to race in, all crews handled the conditions well and racing was close.

Walker has quietly established his authority in this regatta. After a disappointing start he went through the third round robin undefeated.

Tasker finished the round robins with a one point lead, and goes into tomorrow’s semi finals and finals against Tom Spithill, Evan Walker and Jamie Woods.

Results after round robin 3, Day Three:
Spithill 12
Tasker 13
Walker 11
Woods 5
Chapman 2
Hall 2