Youth match racing in Wellington's Breeze. Image copyright Chris Coad.
Wellington Sailors Dominate Youth Championships
by RPNYC media
After four days of racing on Wellington Harbour two crews from the Royal Port Nicholson Yacht Club finished first and second in the 2009 CentrePort International Youth Match Racing Championships over the weekend.
Tim Coltman sailing with Josh Junior and Chris Jones, and Josh Porebski sailing with Matthew Steven and Matthew Clough, dominated the round robin phase of the regatta with each team losing only one and two matches respectively.
Their form continued into the semi finals where Porebski beat Australian Olympic squad sailor Lucinda Whittey and crew from the Royal Sydney Yacht squadron 2-0. Coltman achieved the same score against Stephanie Hazard and crew from the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron in the second semi-final.
The stage was set for a local derby in the final. Porebski came out firing quickly establishing a 2-0 advantage in the best of five final. Coltman thought back in race three leading from start to finish gaining one match back.
Race four saw Porebski lead across the start line. Coltman threw twenty tacks at Porebski up the first leg of the course and was neck and neck going into leg two. A slight error saw Porebski gain a two boat length advantage down leg two forcing Coltman to throw a further twenty five tacks at Porebski on the third leg.
Coltman gained the advantage at the final mark forcing a penalty on Porebski and then backed this up with a further penalty down the final leg allowing him to sail off to an easy victory.
Race five became a sudden death affair. Coltman gained a two boat length advantage off the start line and held this throughout the match to take out the championship.
“It was great to win the finals against Josh” said an elated Coltman on returning to shore. “To be honest the finals could have gone either way it was that close.”
Wellington have finished this season’s Trans Tasman Match racing league with wins in the final two events, including last week’s National Bank Cup in Auckland and now the CentrePort Champs in Wellington.
Wellington Yachting Coach Dean Stanley said “we are delighted with how the guys have gone over the past fortnight. We are particularly pleased to see the older guys supporting the younger skippers through to first and second in the CentrePort Championships. We now will have a quick review and start planning for the National Championships later in the year”
Royal Port Nicholson Yacht Club
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