by Kelly Gilkison
Kiwi David Hazard representing the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron added another 5 wins today and with a total of 11 wins overall is 1 point clear of the other semi finalists. Australians Jay Griffin and Jordan Reece along with Wellington’s Josh Porebski complete the final four with a total of 10 wins each. To break the 3 way tie Reece beat both Griffin and Porebski in today’s matches and so qualifies in the second spot. Porebski beat Griffin leaving them 3rd and 4th respectively.
Hazard was pleased with his team’s performance on day two commenting, “We did pretty good. We had a lot better boat handling today and were thinking more. We felt we had good boat speed which is good and we are really looking forward to tomorrows semi finals.”
Reece is the only team in the top four sailing with five crew which includes the luxury of having a designated tactician, Kate Brown, who sits behind him. Although, as Brown found out today, there is not much room at the rear of the boat. “We were having a close race with Porebski” commented Reece “he gybed and we gybed too and Kate’s foot got caught in the mainsheet so I had to go back and pull her back onboard while the other guys rolled us.” Remarkable Reece and his crew managed to get back to win the race by 13 seconds.
19 year old Griffin explained about their impressive day on the water with only 2 losses. “We are still getting used to the boats, and I need to sail a bit more low-risk!” He smiles! Griffin was quick to speak highly of the new Elliott 7’s “The are really really good for match racing and Guy (Guy Pilkington Training Manager, RNZYS) has done a great job setting them up, it makes the transition from the 6’s to the 7’s a lot easier”.
18 year old Porebski commented “We did far better today, only lost one race to Jordan, which was a really good race, both got a penalty – it was all on.”
The teams practically ran into the Squadron clubrooms this afternoon after a gorgeous day on the Auckland Harbour – but it was HOT! Plenty of sunshine, sailing and sunscreen and at the end of Round Robin two the teams were quite pleased to hit the showers! It was a picture perfect day with a light northerly, putting the start box right off the Westhaven seawall, which was fantastic for parents and supporters alike.
The RNZYS Red team helmed by Codie Banks could only add 3 points to their total and move from second place overall yesterday to just missing out on a finals spot this afternoon.
Italian Valerio Galati added another 2 wins to his total putting him in 6th place overall with Wellington’s Adam Middleton 7th and the regatta’s only female skipper Stephanie Doyle, in 8th place overall.
Semi finals and minor placings sail-offs begins tomorrow (Monday 14 February 2011) at approx 1200hrs. There is fantastic spectator viewing along the Westhaven Marina seawall.
Day Two's Results
Flight Two
Hazard beat Galati by 1min 4s
Doyle beat Middleton by 6s
Reece beat Porebski by 13s
Griffin beat Banks by 1min 12s
Flight Three
Hazard beat Doyle by 38s
Reece beat Griffin by 32s
Porebski beat Galati by 50s
Banks beat Middleton by 6s
Flight Four
Galati beat Doyle by DNF
Hazard beat Reece by 23s
Porebski beat Banks by 28s
Griffin beat Middleton by 1m
Flight Five
Griffin beat Hazard by 13s
Porebski beat Doyle by 2m 10s
Galati beat Middleton by DNF
Reece beat Banks by 1m 58s
Flight Six
Porebski beat Griffin by 19s
Reece beat Doyle by 2m 11s
Hazard beat Middleton by 50s
Banks beat Galati by 4s
Flight Seven
Porebski beat Middleton by 23s
Hazard beat Banks by 5s
Griffin beat Doyle by 43s
Reece beat Galati by 12s
Current Standing – End of Round Robin Two Placings
1 David Hazard 11 wins / 3 losses
2 Jordan Reece 10 / 4
3 Josh Porebski 10 / 4 4 Jay Griffin 10 / 4
5 Codie Banks 8 / 6
6 Valerio Galati 4 / 10
7 Adam Middleton 2 / 12
8 Stephanie Doyle 1 / 13
RNZYS
