420 class leaders Angus Galloway and Alex Gough. Image copyright Andrew Gough.
by Craig Heydon
Day two of the 2011 OAMPS Insurance Brokers Australian Youth Championship served up light and shifty conditions for the 160 crews battling it out on Sydney’s Botany Bay.
All six fleets completed three races on Saturday with the majority of the overnight leaders continuing to show form as the regatta reached the halfway point.
In the 29er fleet Queensland’s Josh Franklin and Lewis Brake maintained their lead with a consistent day of a seventh, first and a fourth leaving them with a slender one point lead over Victoria’s James Sly and Thomas Dwyer.
“We were pretty consistent today in fairly light conditions,” said Franklin. “In each race the wind picked up a bit and by race three we had quite a bit of breeze which was good.”
“It’s really tight at the front of the 29er fleet and everyone is really close so we should have some more good races tomorrow,” he said.
Tess Lloyd and Andrew Gillies are the leading mixed crew in third overall with Philipa and Eliza Solly the leading female crew in fifth overall.
A number of the 29er crews had issues getting off to a clean start with seven boats being black flagged and excluded from race four after being over the line early but the leaders showed their composure throughout a number of restarts and powered ahead.
Angus Galloway and Alex Gough continue to lead the 420 fleet after a race win and two seconds on Saturday, to end the day with a three point lead over West Australians Carrie Smith and Ella Clark with Elloise Brake and Jaime Ryan third.
“We had a good day with some really close racing in all three races,” said Galloway. “It’s always a good day when you have a win and two seconds and we’re looking forward to getting back out there tomorrow.”
Great Britain’s Lorenzo Chiavarini still leads the way in the Laser Radial fleet, seven points clear of Russian sailor Maxim Nikolaev, while Queenslander Mitchell Kennedy was the big mover on day two, with a second, third and sixth leaving him third overall.
Manami Doi of Japan is the leading female sailor in 14th, one place ahead of Ella Evans, with Alex South two places further black.
A number of Laser Radial sailors were also caught out by black flags, including 2010 OAMPS Insurance Brokers Australian Youth Sailing Team member Alex South who was excluded from the final race.
“I was feeling good before the black flag and was on the way up so it was frustrating to miss out on it,” said South. “The conditions for the last race were really nice so it was disappointing not to be racing.”
“I’ve definitely covered my drops now so I’ll go out and have fun tomorrow which seemed to work well during the recent Australian Laser Championship,” she said.
The Laser 4.7 fleet is also being led by an international sailor with Japan’s Yuichiro Kitamura ahead on a count-back from Victorian Thomas Trotman with Madison Kennedy the leading female in third overall.
Benjamin Walkemeyer continues to fight his way back up the ladder following his black flag in the first race of the regatta and ended day two in fourth following a second and a race win.
The Hobie 16 class continues to be Paul Darmanin and Aleks Vucic show with the New South Welshmen dominating the class having won all five races, ahead of Bryce Haffner and Caleb White and Lucas Price and Joshua Singh who are tied on points, six behind the leading pair.
Sam Treharne has jumped into the lead in the Techno 293 class, overtaking New Caledonia’s Antoine Aubert with Alex Stephens third. The leading three sailors all overcame black flags in race four and will need to sail consistently from here on in to remain at the pointy end of the field.
Ananalise Gilbert continues to be the leading female sailor, ahead of Lara O’Brien.
Racing gets underway again at 11am on Sunday at Georges River 16ft Sailing Club with all classes again scheduled to complete three races.
The Techno 293 and 29er fleets will be featured on the live tracking which is available through www.youthchamps.org.au, along with the live event blog.
Australian Youth Championships
