2026 Warren Jones International Match Racing Regatta - Day 1
by John Roberson 27 Jan 09:27 PST
26-30 January 2026
Marcello Torre and his crew, representing the host club, Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club, head the leaderboard at the end of the first day of the Warren Jones International Youth Regatta. With a strong crew of Vassilis Katsaitis, Xavier Bates, George Elms and Raff Torre, they went through a tough opening day undefeated.
Three teams share second place, just one point behind the leader, New Zealander Josh Hyde and two Aussies, Cole Tapper and Ben Crafood. But for an uncharacteristic error by Hyde, representing the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron, he would have topped the leaderboard.
The young Kiwi had put up a dominant performance in testing conditions, but in a pre-start incident towards the end of the day, crashed into another boat and had a penalty point deducted from his otherwise perfect scoreline, to sacrifice the lead. Both Torre and Hyde had mastered both the conditions and opposition with skill and cunning.
Cole Tapper and Ben Crafood are products of the strong match racing academy at Sydney's Cruising Yacht Club of Australia, with Tapper the highest ranked skipper in the event at 3rd in the world.
The regatta has attracted 12 skippers, all under the age of 25, from as far afield as Denmark. The boisterous conditions on the opening day, with the fabled Fremantle seabreeze gusting in at 25 knots, tested the crews and the equipment, with both shredded sails and skin.
Cole Tapper is defending the trophy he won last year, while for Hyde this is his third attempt at winning this prestigious trophy, named after the man who masterminded Australia's historic America's Cup victory in Newport, Rhode Island in 1983.
Results after Day 1:
1. Marcello Torre RFBYC AUS 5pts
2. Josh Hyde RNZYS NZL 4pts
3. Cole Tapper CYCA AUS 4pts
4. Ben Crafoord CYCA AUS 4pts
5. Daniel Kemp RPAYC AUS 3pts
6. Zac West RSYS GBR 3pts
7. Ethan Fong RNZYS NZL 2.5pts
8. Hayden Smith RNZYS NZL 2pts
9. Matias Rossing RDYC DEN 2pts
10. Mia Lovelady RFBYC AUS 0pts
11. William McAullay RPYC AUS 0pts
12. Angus Cameron RFBYC AUS 0pts
The Freo Doctor turned it on for Day 1 by Alex Dare
Tuesday marked Day 1 of competition on the Swan River with 12 teams hitting the water to start their campaigns. In classic Perth fashion, the Freo Doctor came in full force creating the perfect race course to kick off the regatta.
Zac West from Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron said, "we pretty much ripped every sail today so that kind of sets the scene as to how windy it was".
"We started the day with about 10-12 knots and had a massive right shift, the doctor came in, and we were blowing well into the 20's non stop" he said.
With no shortage of talent on the race course, every match was fast, close and tested the sailors' skills. West highlighted how he had many tight races throughout the day, noting a particular match with Daniel Kemp from Royal Price Alfred Yacht Club.
"We ended up with a massive luffing battle in 25 knots, kites up, poles going against the mast, pretty hectic but a lot of fun" he said.