by Aon Racing media
Aon Racing is out of the Portugal Match Cup, with their 3 wins not enough to make it through to the quarter finals stage. The team has been improving rapidly throughout the regatta, but when you're racing against the best in the world you have to hit the ground running. Still this has been a very worthwhile outing for the team, with the chance to measure ourselves against professional sailors giving us an idea of exactly what we need to do to reach this level.
The team had some great performances in this regatta, soundly beating past America's Cup helmsman Francesco Bruni in a stunning pre-start. They were also close to Mathieu Richard and Damien Iehl, where very small improvements could have seen a different result to these races. Perhaps the most exciting race for the team was against Finnish Helmsman Ollie Pecker. Aon Racing had a comfortable lead toward the top of the first beat, before the jib leech caught behind the spreader in a tack, ripping the leech cord and a good chunk of fabric off the back of the jib. Mousey was quick to action, sprinting up the rig with a knife in his teeth to cut the leech free from the spreader. From here we limped around the course, taking some good shifts on the second upwind leg to hold our lead to the finish.
You can see an interview with Reuben on the 24th of June 'Today Show' here, at approximately 6 minutes.
We would to thank our principal sponsor, Aon Insurance Brokers, as well as Club Marine and Allianz for their support. Thanks also to the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron and our friends and family.
Aon Racing is Reuben Corbett (Skipper), Adrian Short (Main), Nicolas Deberque (Trim), Tom Blampied (Pit) and Tom Bentham (Bow).
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