William Tiller competing in the match racing in WA. Supplied image.
by John Roberson
New Zealand skippers Phil Robertson and William Tiller continue to make the running at the Warren Jones International Youth Regatta, holding first and second places on the leaderboard at the end of the second day.
William Tiller broke Robertson’s undefeated run, sailing to a convincing 58 second win over his former skipper, and reduced his points advantage to just one point.
“I think our practice in the Colin Mullins qualifying series, and the similar conditions we had today helped us get the better of Phil,” was Tiller’s explanation of his success. “We had good boat speed and found a couple of wind shifts,” he added, saying that the need to qualify had really benefited their preparation.
Both Robertson and Tiller represent Auckland’s Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron, the club that won the America’s Cup in 1995 and 2000.
Holding onto third place is David Gilmour of Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club, the hosts of the event, sailing in only his second international match racing series. Both Gilmour and Tiller went through the day undefeated, while another local skipper Tristan Brown hauled himself off the bottom of the leaderboard with a good run of three wins and one loss for the day.
After considerable boat and human damage on the first day, the organisers called off racing for the day early in the afternoon today when the wind started gusting over 30 knots, with forecasts of 40 to 50 knots.
By this the time racing was abandoned for the day, one crew member, Mark Langford sailing with his brother Kyle, had suffered a knee injury and been taken to hospital.
Sailing with William Tiller are James Maloney, Harry Thurston, Jono Spurdle and Adrian Short. “Adrian and I have never really sailed together before, with him doing tactics and me helming, he’s normally a helmsperson, so we’re trying to get our stuff sorted,” he admitted, but said he was comfortable with the way the team was shaping up.
The event is run by Swan River Sailing, in conjunction with Royal Perth Yacht Club and this year’s hosts, the Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club.
LEADERBOARD:
1 Phil Robertson NZL (RNZYS) Win 8 Loss 1
2 William Tiller NZL (RNZYS) 7 - 1
3 David Gilmour AUS (RFBYC) 7 - 2
4 Peter Nicholas AUS (RFBYC) 5 - 5
5= Robert Gibbs AUS (RPYC) 4 - 5
5= Reuben Corbett NZL (RNZYS) 4 - 5
7 Kyle Langford AUS (CYCA) 4 - 3 (-0.5)
8 Tristan Brown AUS (RFBYC) 3 - 6
9 Jordan Reece AUS (RSYS) 3 - 7
10 David Chapman AUS (RSYS) 2 - 7
11 Martin Boidin DEN (RDYC) 2 - 7 (-1.5)
(-1) Kyle Langford and Martin Boidin have been deducted points from their final scores for causing excessive damage.
Warren Jones Regatta
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