Grimes makes it two in a row at Club Marine NSW Youth Match Racing Championship
by Cruising Yacht Club of Australia 4 Aug 2019 04:32 PDT
3-4 August 2019
Grimes and his team during their dominant final races of the regatta - Day 2 - Club Marine NSW Youth Match Racing Championship © CYCA
The Cruising Yacht Club of Australia's (CYCA)'s Tom Grimes, James Hodgson, Jess Grimes & Harry Hall have won the 2019 Club Marine NSW Youth Match Racing Championship after a stellar final day of competition on Sydney Harbour.
It was textbook sailing from the team which now heads to Russia to represent Australia at the Youth Match Racing World Championship. "It was a great day for us as a team on the water, and was a great final hit out against some strong competition before the World Championship which begins next week," commented Grimes after racing.
At the beginning of the day, five teams were still vying for the semi-final spots with two flights of the round robin remaining. Overnight leaders Alistair Read had a tough end to their round robin, dropping from first to fourth, but still holding on for the next stage.
Grimes topped the round, having only lost one race, with other CYCA teams skippered by John Cooley and Hugo Stoner leapfrogging Read with them both holding a scorecard of seven wins and two losses.
In the semi-finals, Cooley and Stoner had a great tussle in a fickle southerly breeze in Rushcutters Bay. In some cases, it was better to be lucky than good, with Cooley taking a come from behind victory in Race 3 to book his place in the finals.
Grimes dispatched Read in two clean races to set up an all CYCA final series. In the end, it was the well-polished and highest ranked team that couldn't be caught. Grimes used his experience to outmanoeuvre his opponent in the pre-start, then sailed clean and fast around the racetrack to take his second consecutive Club Marine NSW Youth Match Racing Championship.
In the petit-final, a strong performance by Hugo Stoner saw him take out the series with two wins and one loss over Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Clubs's Alistair Read to make it an all CYCA podium for the second year in a row.
This was the 19th edition of the NSW Youth Match Racing Championship, with Club Marine joining as naming rights sponsor in 2004.
Overall results:
Tom Grimes - Cruising Yacht Club of Australia
John Cooley - Cruising Yacht Club of Australia
Hugo Stoner - Cruising Yacht Club of Australia
Alistair Read - Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club
Jack Littlechild - Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron
Juliet Costanzo - Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club
Jess Tavener - Cruising Yacht Club of Australia
Fletcher Walters - Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club
Darby Jones - Newcastle Cruising Yacht Club
Harry Miller - Newcastle Cruising Yacht Club
Follow the racing results live at cyca.com.au or on the CYCA YSA Facebook Page.