Hardy Cup: Panama Jack Racing Finish Fourth

Phil Robertson (Boat 3) chasing Evan Walker (Boat 4) in the petit-final. Image copyright Aline Van Haren.

by Garth Ellingham

It was a tough and disappointing day for the team, at the Hardy Cup on Sydney Harbour, Australia. After going down 2-0 to Nikki Souter (AUS) we then lost the petite final 2-0, putting us 4th overall. We never really fired this regatta, we struggled in the pre-start a little, purely because the boats are so manouverable making it hard to trap someone or use our skill and experience to our advantage.

Our Semi-Final against Nikki was tough. With the girls being heavier helped their speed upwind but that wasn't the winner. She sailed really well and the two races against her she came off the line slightly better each time.

Evan Walker (AUS) was then our opponent in the Petite final. He also had a tough loss after picking our fellow RNZYS team Adrian Short as his opponent, going down 0-2. We sailed a little bit better against him but we still weren't at the top level we knew we had in us. We lost the first race in the start and then the second one we were ahead but failed to gybe for pressure and got passed downwind. It just wasn't our day

We would also like to congratulate the other RNZYS team, Adrian Short, for taking out the Final 3-1.

Panama Jack Racing

Hardy Cup