Harken Match Racing- Two Aussies and two Kiwis into the Semi Finals

by Sara Roberts on 13 Feb 2011
Two Aussies and two Kiwis are into the Semi Finals at the 2011 Harken Youth International Match Racing Championships.

Kiwi David Hazard representing the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron added another 5 wins today and with a total of 11 wins overall is 1 point clear of the other semi finalists. Australians Jay Griffin and Jordan Reece along with Wellington’s Josh Porebski complete the final four with a total of 10 wins each. To break the 3 way tie Reece beat both Griffin and Porebski in today’s matches and so qualifies in the second spot. Porebski beat Griffin leaving them third and fourth respectively.

Hazard was pleased with his team’s performance on day two commenting, 'We did pretty good. We had a lot better boat handling today and were thinking more. We felt we had good boat speed which is good and we are really looking forward to tomorrows semi finals.'

Reece is the only team in the top four sailing with five crew which includes the luxury of having a designated tactician, Kate Brown, who sits behind him. Although, as Brown found out today, there is not much room at the rear of the boat. 'We were having a close race with Porebski' commented Reece 'he gybed and we gybed too and Kate’s foot got caught in the mainsheet so I had to go back and pull her back onboard while the other guys rolled us.' Remarkable Reece and his crew managed to get back to win the race by 13 seconds.

19 year old Griffin explained about their impressive day on the water with only 2 losses. 'We are still getting used to the boats, and I need to sail a bit more low-risk!' He smiles!
Griffin was quick to speak highly of the new Elliott 7’s 'The are really really good for match racing and Guy (Guy Pilkington Training Manager, RNZYS) has done a great job setting them up, it makes the transition from the 6’s to the 7’s a lot easier'.

18 year old Porebski commented 'We did far better today, only lost one race to Jordan, which was a really good race, both got a penalty – it was all on.'

The teams practically ran into the Squadron clubrooms this afternoon after a gorgeous day on the Auckland Harbour – but it was HOT! Plenty of sunshine, sailing and sunscreen and at the end of Round Robin two the teams were quite pleased to hit the showers!
It was a picture perfect day with a light northerly, putting the start box right off the Westhaven seawall, which was fantastic for parents and supporters alike.

The RNZYS Red team helmed by Codie Banks could only add 3 points to their total and move from second place overall yesterday to just missing out on a finals spot this afternoon.

Italian Valerio Galati added another 2 wins to his total putting him in sixth place overall with Wellington’s Adam Middleton seventh and the regatta’s only female skipper Stephanie Doyle, in eighth place overall.

Semi finals and minor placings sail-offs begins tomorrow (Monday 14 February 2011) at approx 1200hrs. There is fantastic spectator viewing along the Westhaven Marina seawall.
We apologise that the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron website www.rnzys.org.nz is currently down but everything is being done to fix the problem as soon as possible.

Today’s Results
Flight Two
Hazard beat Galati by 1min 4s
Doyle beat Middleton by 6s
Reece beat Porebski by 13s
Griffin beat Banks by 1min 12s

Flight Three
Hazard beat Doyle by 38s
Reece beat Griffin by 32s
Porebski beat Galati by 50s
Banks beat Middleton by 6s

Flight Four
Galati beat Doyle by DNF
Hazard beat Reece by 23s
Porebski beat Banks by 28s
Griffin beat Middleton by 1m

Flight Five
Griffin beat Hazard by 13s
Porebski beat Doyle by 2m 10s
Galati beat Middleton by DNF
Reece beat Banks by 1m 58s

Flight Six
Porebski beat Griffin by 19s
Reece beat Doyle by 2m 11s
Hazard beat Middleton by 50s
Banks beat Galati by 4s

Flight Seven
Porebski beat Middleton by 23s
Hazard beat Banks by 5s
Griffin beat Doyle by 43s
Reece beat Galati by 12s

Current Standing – End of Round Robin Two Placings
David Hazard 11 wins / 3 losses 1
Jordan Reece 10 / 4 2
Josh Porebski 10 / 4 3
Jay Griffin 10 / 4 4
Codie Banks 8 / 6 5
Valerio Galati 4 / 10 6
Adam Middleton 2 / 12 7
Stephanie Doyle 1 / 13 8

RNZYS Harken Youth International Match Racing Championships 2011 Entry List
1. Lega Navale Italiana Trani Trani, Italy
Helm Valerio Galati
Main Francesco Mastrogiacomo
Trim Marco di Domizi
Bow Francesco Mauro Manzi

2. Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron Sydney, Australia
Helm Jordan Reece
Main James Shannon
Trim Arnau Farras-Knowles
Mid Anousha Fluck
Bow Kate Brown

3. Cruising Yacht Club of Australia Sydney, Australia
Helm Jay Griffin
Main Henry Kermot
Main Hamish Hardy
Bow Will Parker

4. Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club Sydney, Australia
Helm Stephanie Doyle
Main Elyce McClelland
Trim Gemma Rasdall
Mid Jack Nairn
Bow James Johnston

5. Royal Port Nicholson Yacht Club Wellington, New Zealand
Helm Josh Porebski
Main Tim Coltman
Trim Michael Cook
Bow Stuart Williams

6. Royal Port Nicholson Yacht Club Wellington, New Zealand
Helm Adam Middleton
Main James de Lisle
Trim Will Eastman
Bow Mackenzie Taylor

7. Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron Auckland, New Zealand
Helm David Hazard
Main Rawiri Geddes
Trim Callum Jones
Bow Sam Molesworth

8. Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron Auckland, New Zealand
Helm Codie Banks
Main Daniel Pooley
Trim Benny Butcher
Bow Jamie Dawson

Event Schedule
Date Time Event Room
Monday 0800 Breakfast Ballroom
14 0845 Briefing Dinghy Locker
1200 Racing Starts
1600 (approx) Debriefing Commodores Room

Tuesday 0800 Breakfast Ballroom
15 0845 Briefing Dinghy Locker
1000 Racing Starts
1600 (approx) Debriefing Dinghy Locker
1700 Prizegiving & BBQ Dinghy Locker
ENDS


For further information including crew lists, honour board of past winners and daily results, please visit the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron’s website: www.rnzys.org.nz