Marinassess Women's Match Racing Regatta - Overall
by Jennifer Crooks, CYCA media 2 Mar 2014 20:43 NZDT
1-2 March 2014
Milly Bennett and her crew of Seldon Coventry, Alice Tarnawski, Kajsa Doyle and Jess Russell, representing the Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club, have won the Marinassess Womens Match Racing Regatta, hosted by the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia's Youth Sailing Academy.
It was another tough day on water for competitors with shifty winds and rain showers to contend with, but Bennett breezed through Round Robin Two without dropping a match.
Bennett started off the day well winning her match against CYCA's Rayshele Martin to break the tie between them and secure top place on the leaderboard at the conclusion of Round Robin 1.
"We had an awesome day – we didn't drop a match today and I've won my first match racing regatta," Milly Bennett said.
"Our pre-starts were solid and we were able to get the lead early and then just had to concentrate on keeping the lead during the race.
"Conditions were really difficult – it was light and shifty – huge directional shifts and very random, which made the downwind runs really tricky.
"Thanks to the Race Committee for pushing through the round robins to get a result. Thanks to my fellow competitors for the high standard of match racing and to the CYCA for hosting the event.
Emma May and her crew of Nicky Bradley, Tara Blanc Ramos and Caitlin Tames, representing the CYCA finished in second place after a countback and winning four matches today.
"We had a mixed day – some wins and some losses," May said. "We were determined to stay focused ensuring that we made good decisions.
"Overall, I'm happy with the final result. We had a couple of great matches towards the end of the afternoon."
CYCA skipper Greta Quealy and her crew of Catherine Chua, Emma Harrison, Tiffany Fulde and Alex Paton finished in third place after coming together as a crew for the first time this regatta.
Quealy had two experienced hands on board in Tiffany Fulde and Alex Paton – both whom are CYCA Youth Sailing Academy Alumni.
"We started the day off really well – communication amongst the crew was paramount and we worked together amazingly well. Having Tiff and Alex onboard was a real asset.
"Conditions were really shifty which meant we had some really close races. The downwind runs were really intense.
"Our last match with Emma (May) was really close – she had the lead for most of the race but we managed to catch up to her on the last downwind run. We had a penalty which we had to get rid of before we crossed the line, so that cost us the match.
"It's a good result – my first time on the podium in a match racing regatta," Quealy added.
Race Officer Steve Merrington had another tough day in difficult conditions. "It was almost a repeat of yesterday - light and shifty. We pushed hard to get the round robins completed in order to get a result.
"The breeze was all over the dial – we had a nice southerly for the early part of the day and then it flicked back to the north east later in the afternoon. Once again the competitors toughed it out and showed some great match racing skills."
John Messenger, Managing Director of Marinassess congratulated all competitors on their performance at the prizegiving this evening.
"We are very proud to continue to support women's match racing through our sponsorship of this regatta and we're encouraged by the strong level support that this regatta has received.
"Congratulations to Milly Bennett and her crew on winning her first match racing regatta and to all the teams competing this weekend.
Overall Results:
1st Milly Bennett (RPAYC)
2nd Emma May (CYCA)
3rd Greta Quealy (CYCA)
4th Rayshele Martin (CYCA)
5th Lauren Gallaway (CYCA)
6th Nina Long (CYCA)
7th Kate Downing (CYCA)
For full round robin results visit www.cyca.com.au/youth/marinassess-womens-match-racing-regatta