Coltman leads Day 1 of Harken International Youth Match Racing

by Sara Tucker on 11 Feb 2012
Tim Coltman representing the Royal Port Nicholson Yacht Club leads Day 1 with six wins out of his six races.

Coltman commented on his day 'Yes, it was good on the score sheet but we had some very close racing against the Auckland boys and CYCA team.'

Coltman and his team of Michael Cook, William McVeagh and Matt Clough were the last team to arrive at the regatta and were unable to sail in yesterday’s allocated practice session. 'We had a less then ideal build-up to this event, missing practice, but we’re glad that the sun came out today and we are looking forward to Day 2.'

Second overall is the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron team helmed by Chris Steele. Steele and his team of Stewart Dodson, Rawiri Geddes and Jay Presst have 5 wins and only 1 loss today to top ranked Jordan Reece.

Steele commented on their day, 'We had a reasonable day with no problems and we just kept chipping away. Our first race against Dave (Hazard) was our closest with the lead swapping three times on the final run.'

Two Sydney teams are next overall on four wins. Jordan Reece and his True Blue Racing Team representing the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron and Ashlen Rooklyn representing the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia.

For Coltman and Reece this is their third regatta in as many weeks after competing in the Warren Jones International Youth Regatta in Perth and the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron Hardy Cup, where Rooklyn was also a competitor.
Next overall on three wins is David Hazard representing the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron, who placed second overall at last year’s event. Hazard also has one resail to complete versus the all-female Squadron team after damage to the boat equipment delayed their start for too long.

The all-female crew helmed by Katie de Lange grabbed two wins today over Adam Middleton and Nick Howe and are looking for one more versus their team-mates tomorrow in the re-sail.

Newcomer to match racing from Bucklands Beach Yacht Club George Brasell, who has no current match racing ranking, grabbed an impressive three wins today including a win over Jordan Reece by 16 seconds.

There were some delays due to shifting breeze today and even some rain after breakfast this morning. The Race Committee team lead by Gerald Flynn were aiming for more flights today but racing concluded for the day after 5pm.

Racing is scheduled to begin at 10am tomorrow (Sunday) with Round Robin One – Flight Seven. The first match will be the two topped ranked skippers Coltman v Steele, so keep an eye on the website www.rnzys.org.nz for full results

Today’s Results
Round Robin One
Flight One
Reece beat de Lange by 33s
Steele beat Hazard by 3s
Coltman beat Brasell by 46s
Rooklyn beat Howe by 13s
Middleton beat Sexton by 6s

Flight Two
Reece beat Steele by 25s
Hazard beat Middleton by 7s
Coltman beat Sexton by 20s
Rooklyn beat brasell by 1m16s
De Lange beat Howe by 1m12s

Flight Three
De Lange beat Middleton by 25s
Hazard beat Reece by 1m10s
Coltman beat Howe by 1m59s
Brasell beat Sexton by 2m10s
Steele beat Rooklyn by 33s

Flight Four
Steele beat de Lange by 10s
Reece beat Middleton by 38s
Rooklyn beat Sexton by 1m24s
Brasell beat Howe by 1m12s
Coltman beat Hazard by 5s

Flight Five
De Lange v Hazard (re sail)
Steele beat Middleton by 33s
Coltman beat Rooklyn
Sexton beat Howe by 3m26s
Brasell beat Reece by 16s

Flight Six
Steele beat Brasell by 1m10s
Reece beat Howe by 54s
Coltman beat Middleton by 40s
Rooklyn beat de Lange by 13s

Points Table
Tim Coltman Royal Port Nicholson Yacht Club 6 wins / 0 losses / 6 races sailed
Chris Steele Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron 5 / 1 / 6
Jordan Reece Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron 4 / 2 / 6
Ashlen Rooklyn Cruising Yacht Club of Australia 4 / 2 / 6
David Hazard Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron 3 / 2 / 5
George Brasell Bucklands Beach Yacht Club 3 / 3 / 6
Kate de Lange Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron 2 / 3 / 5
Adam Middleton Royal Port Nicholson Yacht Club 1 / 5 / 6
Carla Sexton Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club 1 / 5 / 6
Nicholas Howe Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron 0 / 6 / 6