2007 Westpac Australian Team Racing Championship

by Suellen Hurling on 3 May 2007 The 2007 Westpac Australian Team Racing Championship kicks off on Friday 4 May with teams from across the country arriving for a practice session before racing commences on Saturday 5 May.

Ten teams will compete in the Swiss League competition over the three days of racing with the overall champions qualifying for the 2007 ISAF Team Racing World Championships hosted by the Real Club Nautico Gandia in Valencia, Spain, from the 23rd to the 29th of September 2007.

Team Racing is an important component of the Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron racing schedule with this championship being the forth major team racing event hosted this year. Yachting Australia also supports a National pathway in Teams Racing with the Australian Schools Team Racing Championship held in June each year as the youth level equivalent event.

Queensland, New South Wales, Tasmania and Western Australia will be represented at the regatta including the Brisbane Boys College team who recently won the RQYS Term 1 Competition, 2007 Club Marine Secondary Schools Team Racing Championship and the GPS Sailing Championships. However the young sailors will be up against some fierce competition over the course of the regatta and will be exposed to tactical racing at its best. The Brisbane Boys College team and sailors from Tasmania Two will be using this regatta as a learning curve and training for the forthcoming Matrix Australian Schools Team Racing Championships being hosted by the Sandy Bay Sailing Club and Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania in June.

The competition will be hot from Race 1 with former Australian Team Racing Champions whom also competed in the ISAF World Team Racing Championships vying for yet another place at this years World Championships. A large amount of the sailors competing were recently up against each other at the Australian Youth Olympic Festival where ten teams from around the world competed in the Team Racing competition.

Race reports and results will be available on both the Yachting Australia and Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron websites along with photos capturing the action these talented sailors showcase.

Competing teams and members:

Yachting Queensland (QLD)
Leah Gallagher
Stephen Mastin
Ryan Palk
Katherine Cunneen
Sam Kerr
Erin Gallagher
Rhys Theile

BBC2 (QLD)
Jack Sweep
Nicholas Moriarty
Max Milburn
Will Grant
Al Macarthur
Alex Kerr

BBC (QLD)
Warwick Heath
Max Creedy
Stefanie Creedy
Jay Whittem
Tony Whittem
Tim Robba

Team Queensland (QLD)
Grant Hudson
Nick Flutter
John Robson
Rachel McLean
Shona McLean
Melinda Sirianni
Angus Rankin

Tripod (WA)
Luc Tasker
Tim Rechichi
Rod Chamberlind
Chris Kameen
Liz Needy
Emma Flukes

Royal Perth Yacht Club (WA)
Steven Thomas
Jasper Warren
Robert Gibbs
Chelsea Hall
Oscar Thompson
Leo Showell

Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania (TAS)
Blair Spaulding
Nick Jones
Ben Price
Prue Cunningham
Lucy Shephard
James Onn

Tasmania 2 (TAS)
Oliver Nicholas
Elise Clark
Rowan Clark
William Keyes
Michael Walden
Tom Gourlay

Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club (NSW)
Hamish Roughley
Murray Gordon
Craig Souter
Amy Lee
Jenna Walters
Sarah Lee

Cruising Yacht Club of Australia (NSW)
Edward Hacknem
Will McKenzie
Evan Walker
William Darker
Lucinda Whitty
Byron White