Please select your home edition
Edition
Cyclops Marine 2023 November - LEADERBOARD

Buddy Melges Challenge - Australian women win

by Craig Heydon on 13 Sep 2010
Souter and crew after winning the 2010 Buddy Melges Challenge Dayne Sharp
Buddy Melges Challenge - The Australian Women’s Match Racing Team crew of Nicky Souter, Nina Curtis and Olivia Price has won the 2010 Buddy Melges Challenge in Wisconsin, USA, their final event before the 2010 ISAF Women’s Match Racing World Championship begins in Newport, Rhode Island, next week.

The win for Souter, Curtis and Price makes it back to back ISAF Grade 1 event victories for the crew following their Gold medal at the Skandia Sail for Gold Regatta in Weymouth last month.

Fellow Australians Katie Spithill, Jessica Eastwell and Angela Farrell finished the regatta in sixth position after topping their group early in the regatta with the crew gaining more valuable time in the Elliott 6 metre boat that will be used at the 2012 London Olympic Games.

'As a team we’re really happy with how we’re progressing,' said skipper Souter. 'To win consecutive Grade 1 regattas is a good lead up to our World Championship.'

'The competition here in Wisconsin was really tough, there were a lot of good teams competing including all the crews that took part in the ISAF Sailing World Cup,' she said. 'We had a mixed start to the week and just scraped into the quarter finals in eighth position, then did the same to head into the semi finals in fourth so we had our backs to the wall a lot of the time.'

Souter and crew took on American sailor Sally Barkow in the semi final with the Australians coming out on top three wins to nil to book a place in the final.

The final was a trans-Tasman battle with Souter, Curtis and Price taking on the New Zealand crew of Samantha Osborne, Raynor Smeal and Susannah Pyatt with the Australians taking the regatta victory with a three to one win.

The conditions on Lake Michigan tested the crews throughout the week explains Olivia Price.

'It was a real light wind regatta but with incredibly choppy seas,' said Price. 'At times it was worse than the chop we sail in off the Sydney heads and tested everybody’s skills, it was like sailing in a washing machine.'

'On one day a fog set in and it was surreal to be racing with fog lights to show where the course was,' she said. 'At one stage we headed around the top mark and pointed the boat in the direction we thought was right and hoped for the best.'

'Luckily for the last day it was a complete reversal and we got the finals raced in 10 knots of wind and flat water which made for some great racing,' said Price.

The two Australian crews will now remain in Wisconsin for a week of training aboard the Sonar boat which will be used for the upcoming World Championship before heading to Rhode Island next weekend.

'We’re looking forward to spending some time aboard the Sonar in the coming days as most of us have never sailed one before,' said Souter. 'I saw one for the first time recently in Weymouth which the Australian Sailing Team’s Paralympic crew was competing in and we’re all keen to get out on the water and sail them.'

www.australiansailingteam.com.au
B&G Zeus SR AUSVetus-Maxwell 2021 v2 FOOTERSydney Boat Show 2025 - Apply to Exhibit

Related Articles

Jazz Turner Makes History in Project FEAR
Jazz credits Allen for providing cutting-edge sheeting systems, as well as expert advice Project FEAR, an extraordinary solo sailing voyage by Jazz Turner, has concluded successfully: she became the first disabled person – and specifically the first wheelchair user – to sail non-stop and unassisted around the UK and Ireland.
Posted today at 11:00 am
18th Puig Vela Clàssica Barcelona overall
Some of the most celebrated gems of classic yachting in the waters off Barcelona The sails have now been lowered on the 18th edition of the Puig Vela Clàssica, which this week brought together some of the most celebrated gems of classic yachting in the waters off Barcelona.
Posted today at 10:38 am
Dylan Fletcher previews Portsmouth
Fletcher says SailGP's Portsmouth debut offers the team the chance to 'right the wrongs'. With just a week to go until SailGP's return to Great Britain, we sit down with Emirates GBR driver Dylan Fletcher to discuss the opportunities and pressures of a home event.
Posted today at 8:57 am
Australian sailors take to Olympic waters
Regatta serves as an important test, not just for sailors, but also for organisers The Long Beach Olympic Classes Regatta is set to get begin, marking the first major combined event on the waters of the LA 2028 Olympic Games.
Posted today at 7:36 am
Marine Auctions: Two Online Auctions in July
Also Jacob Seiffert has been appointed as the Area Representative for the Port Lincoln Region Marine Auctions are proud to announce that Jacob Seiffert has been appointed as the Area Representative for the Port Lincoln Region in South Australia. Jacob is a local Commerical Fisherman.
Posted today at 2:43 am
Long Beach Olympic Classes Regatta 2025 Preview
The fourth stop of the five series Sailing Grand Slam circuit Over 200 elite athletes from 42 nations have converged on Long Beach to test their skills on the same waters that will host sailing events during the LA2028 Olympic Games as they compete in the Long Beach Olympic Classes Regatta July 12-20
Posted today at 12:11 am
Best Buddies from Germany win the AEGEAN 600 2025
The second wave of finishers benefit from last night's steadier breezes Behind the first wave of finishers yesterday morning, yesterday and last night's steadier breezes helped sweep in another wave of Monohull and Multihull finishers to the race finish at Cape Sounion.
Posted on 11 Jul
Tough conditions test Morris
As iQFOiL World Championships wrap up The iQFOiL World Championships have drawn to a close in Aarhus, Denmark, following a week of light and unpredictable wind that tested both race officials and athletes to the limit.
Posted on 11 Jul
International Moth Worlds at Lake Garda Day 4
Balanger dominates qualifying, storm cuts Gold fleet racing short Day four of the 2025 Moth World Championship opened at dawn with another early start for the 137 athletes from 25 nations competing on Lake Garda.
Posted on 11 Jul
iQFOiL Worlds in Aarhus overall
Thrilling Medal Series closes out a spectacular week of high-stakes foiling in Denmark The 2025 iQFOiL World Championship wrapped up in Aarhus with a spectacular Medal Series showdown that saw Emma Wilson (GBR 7) and Andy Brown (GBR 360) rise to the top and secure World Championship titles.
Posted on 11 Jul