BlackMatch Report on Day 3 of the New Zealand National Match Racing Championships 2008

by David Swete

Conditions on the Waitemata Harbour today saw a blustery 20knot easterly and this provided the perfect scene for some exciting match racing. We came out firing with 5 straight wins today to keep us in the hunt for an elusive semi final berth, however we ended the day on a bad note, narrowly losing out to the talented Laurie Jury.

Our closest win of the day was against the up and coming, Phil Robertson. We received a penalty in the prestart against a fired up Robertson after we failed to keep clear while in a 'dial up' head to wind, but still we held a healthy advantage off the start line. Half way into the first upwind we held enough of a lead to complete our penalty turn and still maintain it, however it diminished significantly on completion of our 360 degree turn. Going into the final upwind the gritty youngster fought his way back to trail by only one boat length going into the final downwind run to the finish. Robertson's talented crew were attacking us with everything they had on the run to the finish line but we were equal to the task and held on to take a much needed victory by the narrowest of margins.

Although Emirates Team New Zealand's Dean Barker and Team Origin's Ben Ainsile have cleared out in front of the pack, the fight for the remaining two semi final berths remains extremely interesting and is a 3 horse race between Rod Davis, Laurie Jury and BlackMatch while Phil Robertson remains an outside chance. We have three tough matches tomorrow against Rod, Ben and Dean, but we are looking forward to the challenge and are hoping to make the semi-final.

BlackMatch would like to again thank their sponsors Fedex Express and Line 7 New Zealand for their excellent sponsorship and support this year. We would also like to thank our yacht club the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron for their support and for running such an awesome event.

Dean Barker 17 wins / 0 losses / 17 points
Ben Ainslie 14 / 3 / 13.5*
Rod Davis 12 / 5 / 12
Adam Minoprio 11 / 6 / 11
Laurie Jury 10 / 7 / 10
Phil Robertson 9 / 8 / 8.5*
Josh Junior 6 / 11 / 6
Reuben Corbett 6 / 12 / 6
Jessica Smyth 4 / 14 / 4
Adrian Short 4 / 13 / 4
Jan Dawson 2 / 16 / 2

*0.5 point deducted for damage

BlackMatch Racing