American team wins Oceanbridge NZ Youth World Match Racing Trials & Auckland Championships

Max Brennan, Cole Tapper, Nic Drummond & Hamish Vass – Balboa Yacht Club / Cruising Yacht Club of Australia © Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron

In a closely fought sudden death final race between USA's Max Brennan and the RNZYS Performance Programme team helmed by Jack Frewin, experience won the day and the Oceanbridge Auckland Match Racing Championship.

While they placed second overall, Jack Frewin and his LJ Racing Team of Sofia Higgott, Ollie Gilmour and Oliver Lloyd were rewarded for their preparation and hard work, especially during the first day's relentless 20+kn winds and challenging sea states. As the highest placed NZ team in the event, they also gained selection to represent RNZYS and New Zealand for the 2023 Youth Match Racing World Championships to be sailed at Sydney's CYCA in December.

"Interestingly, it was in the semi-finals where Jack Frewin defeated Robbie McCutcheon 2-0 in some of the tightest racing of the regatta" says RNZYS Performance Sailing Manager Zak Merton. "It was like watching the apprentice beat the master" he continues. "Jack did Main on Robbie's team for the Youth Match Racing Worlds last year."

USA's Max Brennan also sailed in last year's winning crew of the Youth Match Racing World Championship and will also compete at this years' event later this year as trimmer for his mainsheet hand this weekend- Cole Tapper.

The twelve teams in this year's Oceanbridge Youth World Match Racing Trials and Auckland Championships came from a mixture of backgrounds; for some of the Mastercard Youth Training Programme students this was their first regatta of this calibre. A total of 73 individual races were sailed across the two days, making hard work not only for the sailors, but for the volunteer race officials that executed the programme flawlessly.

The top three skippers also gained entry into the 2023 NZ Match Racing Championships to be sailed at RNZYS from 25-29 October 2023.

Final Standings:

1. Max Brennan, Cole Tapper, Nic Drummond & Hamish Vass - Balboa Yacht Club / Cruising Yacht Club of Australia
2. Jack Frewin, Sofia Higgott, Ollie Gilmour & Oliver Lloyd - RNZYS Performance Programme (1st placed NZ Youth Team, awarded Youth Worlds selection)
3. Robbie McCutcheon, Luke Cashmore, George Angus, Chester Duffett, Poppy Hoskin - RNZYS
4. Josh Hyde - RNZYS Performance Programme
5. Mason Mulcahy- RNZYS Performance Programme
6. Tom Picot- Cercle Nautique Calédonien
7. Rory Sims- RNZYS Mastercard Youth Training Programme
8. Hayden Smith- RNZYS Mastercard Youth Training Programme
9. Sam Scott - RNZYS Mastercard Youth Training Programme
10. Mattias Coutts - Manly Sailing Club
11. Tim McCulloch -Howick Sailing Club & Bucklands Beach Yacht Club
12. Charley Cates - Kerikeri Cruising Club

Full results can be viewed online matchracingresults.com