Jury (Boat 2) gybing for the line in a close finish against Walker. Image copyright CYCA Staff.
by Pam Scrivenor
Close racing kept umpires and the race committee busy today in day two of the ISAF Nations Cup Regional Final Oceania, hosted by the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia. Maiko Sato (JPN) and her team were the big improvers of the day, settling in to match racing and the Elliott 6.0m boats.
Sato took a lot from the match racing clinic yesterday and commented ‘In the lighter breeze today (9-12 knots of westerly breeze) we had good boat speed and the match clinic was a great help. We were very pleased with our two wins today and one of our losses was so close’.
Price (Meridien Marinas Boat 3) trails Sato. Image copyright CYCA Staff.
Sato’s loss to Olivia Price (AUS) was only by one metre. In this race Price came around the top mark a boat length behind Sato but managed to get to the favoured leeward side. Price gybed early for the finish, making a cleaner gybe and managed to take the win by the smallest margin.
Laurie Jury (NZL) was in winning form, not dropping a race until he met Evan Walker (AUS) for the third time today. Jury incurred a penalty on the start line and with a lead up the first work, decided to take his penalty bringing him back to even with Walker. The two continued to engage throughout the race but Walker was able to extended away from Jury towards the finish, crossing the line 10 seconds ahead.
With only one race to sail in the Open Division tomorrow, Jury will finish on top and will meet Walker in the finals. Tugdual Piriou and his team from New Caledonia will take considerable experience back home with them to push ahead with the match racing program which is developing in their country following the purchase of the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron’s fleet of 10 Elliott 6.0m earlier this year.
In the Women’s Division, placings will go down to the last race between Sato and Olivia Powrie (NZL) to see who will meet Price in the final.
With a 25 knot southerly predicated for tomorrow, Saturday 14 May, the race committee pushed through the triple round robin today. This leaves one flight still to be sailed in round robin three before going into finals to determine which teams will receive an invitation to the Nations Cup Grand Final in Sheboygan in September this year.
For full round robin results click here
