Aon Racing (formerly Black Sheep Racing) at the Korea Match Cup qualifier. Image copyright Aon Racing.
by Reuben Corbett
Black Sheep Racing are excited to announce a new partnership with Aon insurance brokers, who have signed on as principal sponsor for our 2011 campaign. The Black Sheep are no more, but we will still stand out in the flock, aiming to make a mark on the sailing world under the title "Aon Racing." Other sponsors on board this year include Club Marine and Allianz, as well as Myogenics, NZ Solutions Web Design and our faithful club, The Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron.
For 2011 the team will be lead by Reuben Corbett on helm, with Adrian Short doing mainsheet and tactics. The big Tom Blampied is doing Pit and Tom Bentham (known as mousy) will be our star trimmer.
Spring blossom at the Korea Match Cup qualifier. Image copyright Aon Racing.
The team arrived in Korea to compete against 11 other teams for a place in the Korea Match Cup, a world tour regatta in May. There will be tough competition from fellow kiwis Laurie Jury and William Tiller, as well as the in form Evan Walker who recently won the Warren Jones regatta in Perth. The regatta is sailed in KM36 boats, with masthead gennakers making for difficult maneouvring and boat handling. However today's training session went well for the team, who quickly adapted to the different boats and are looking forward to tomorrows racing. We are lucky to have Benny Butcher sailing with the team this week and he is in charge of bow.
From Korea the team will fly straight to Europe, competing in the Spanish Open, followed by regattas in Sweden, Poland, Russia, Estonia, France and Italy, where they hope to prove themselves as a top match racing team.
You can follow the team on their website, AonRacing.co.nz, which is still under construction. Alternatively you can subscribe to the twitter feed or join our Aon Racing facebook group.
Aon Racing is Reuben Corbett (Helm), Adrian Short (Main/Tactics), Tom Blampied (Pit), Tom Bentham (Trim) and Benny Butcher (Bow).
Aon Racing
