Prize purse, Grade 1 invitation & live broadcast in Australia's best Youth Match Racing Regatta
by Jordan Reece 22 Nov 2018 22:24 PST
27-30 November 2018
Musto continues their partnership with youth sailing © Andrea Francolini
Australia's premier match racing event, the Musto International Youth Match Racing Regatta, will take centre stage on beautiful Sydney Harbour once again this year from Tuesday 27 November through to Friday 30 November with some of the best youth match racers from across the country and around the world competing for the 'Joy Ride' perpetual trophy. Hosted by the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia (CYCA), home of the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race, 12 teams from four countries are set to take part in the only youth World Sailing Grade 2 match race event.
Featuring the current dual Australian Youth Match Racing Champion, Australian Open match racing Champion and five teams ranked by World Sailing as among the 50 best in the world, with a further two teams ranked inside the top 100, it is anyone's guess as to who will take out this year's title.
Not only will the winner of this year's event take home a bounty of points towards their world ranking but will also receive an invitation to a lucrative World Sailing Grade 1 event in 2019. In a new exciting partnership between the CYCA and Yacht Club Locarno, Switzerland, an invitation will be extended to compete in the Match Race Switzerland 2019, taking place from the 3-7 April.
The World Sailing Grade 1 event will be an extremely enticing prize for all competitors, with not only an invitation provided but also a free entry fee and accommodation provided by Yacht Club Locarno. On top of this the CYCA will also offer a $3,000 travel grant to the winning team for the Grade 1 event.
"We strongly support youth sailing activities and therefore we would be proud to invite the winning team of the Musto International Youth Match Racing Championship to the Match Race Switzerland 2019," Match Racing Switzerland Event Manager, Felix Somm, says.
Coverage of this year's Musto event will also be bigger and better than ever with the Finals Day live streamed via social media.
"Musto Australia are proud to be the official partner of the Musto International Youth Match Racing Championship," says General Manager James Meggison.
"We have been a long-term partner to this event and have seen it grow from a small locally focused regatta into the world-class event it is today. It is without doubt the pre-eminent youth match racing event in the world and we look forward to some great racing."
This highly competitive youth match racing regatta, which is now a well-established and internationally-recognised event, will see half of this year's competitors traveling from overseas. A record three teams will travel from the United States of America with other entrants from France, New Zealand and Australia taking part.
There is no doubt that one of the strongest contenders for this year's title will once again come from the CYCA's current Youth Match Racing National Champion, Tom Grimes. Grimes, the World Number 36 and current University World Champion, will face his biggest threat from the event's highest ranked competitor, New Zealand's James Wilson (RNZYS), who is currently ranked 25th in the world.
CYCA will have two other entries with Finn Tapper and James Hodgson who won an invitation after finishing runner up in the 2018 Sharp Australian Youth Match Racing National Championship in October. Other Australian entries include Clare Costanzo (RPAYC), Ethan Prieto-Low (RFBYC) from Western Australia, and Charlotte Griffin (RSYS).
The United States of America has the largest international fleet in this year's event with three teams traveling from Los Angeles. Balboa Yacht Club will have two entries in this year's event with David Wood returning, and also joined by Jeffrey Petersen. Frankie Dair, from the California Yacht Club, will complete the USA line-up.
Rounding out the competitors list are international entries Tom Picot from Cercle Nautique Caledonien, France, and Emma Hyde from the Royal Port Nicholson Yacht Club, New Zealand.
The regatta will be sailed from the CYCA, Rushcutters Bay on Sydney Harbour using the CYCA's fleet of Elliott 7s. The event will start on Tuesday 27 November at 1000hrs with a qualifying round robin series scheduled, before knockout stages start on Thursday 29 November. Racing can be followed live via the CYCA website and Youth Sailing Academy Facebook page.