RNZYS Youth International Match Racing Championships

10-14 February 2007

The RNZYS Red team for the Youth International consisted of Michael Thorpe (helm), Jono Spurdle (main), and Mike Edmonds (bow). Going into my first major regatta on helm,
Jono and Mike's first as crew we didn't know what to expect. The idea of keeping everything simple and just sailing fast rather than concerning ourselves over who we were racing seemed to work and after a light and shifty first day, we ended up on two wins from three races.
On day two, they managed to get six good races in. First up for up was Robert Gibbs and after receiving a penalty from him in the pre start we managed to sail fast and force him out into strong tide giving us a big enough lead to
do our penalty downwind and go on to win.

We had a close race with Tom Spithill where better crew work at the bottom mark and in the tacking kept the game close but a big wind change made us go from two boat lengths ahead to five boat lengths behind near the top mark which was enough for him to go
on and win. To finish the day we raced Logan Sutherland once and David
Chapman twice winning all three giving us a total of four from six. Day three was not as good with only two wins from five. Wins against Quartly and Gibbs again and losses to Spithill, Walker and another tight one with Robertson saw us take the fourth spot in the semis. As expected, Phil chose us to race in a best of five semi finals. With the conditions light and variable in the first two races we led in at the pre start with two good starts on the pin forcing him to tack off. Good picking of the shifts and fast tacks enabled us to lead round all marks in both races and win. In the third race, we received an interesting penalty in the dial up, and went on to start the race to windward and slightly advanced on Phil. We lead round the final mark with a nice lead but they managed to close in on us and we were unable to complete our penalty and remain in front giving Phil a narrow win. The fourth was another close race and after us leading round the final mark, a quick gybe saw them roll and clear us forcing us to sail proper course to the finish and giving them the win by a boat length. It was all on in the final race with the score now two all and another very close race with Phil ahead by a few boat lengths round the bottom mark we forced an epic taking duel of about 25 tacks closing in but still just behind at the top mark and with us almost laying the finish near the top we couldn't quite catch up enough to close in and they went on to win.

Semi Finals

As expected, Phil chose us to race in a best of five semi finals. With the conditions light and variable in the first two races we led in at the pre start with two good starts on the pin forcing him to tack off. Good picking of the shifts and fast tacks enabled us to lead round all marks in both races and win. In the third race, we received an interesting penalty in the dial up, and went on to start the race to windward and slightly advanced on Phil. We lead round the final mark with a nice lead but they managed to close in on us and we were unable to complete our penalty and remain in front giving Phil a narrow win. The fourth was another close race and after us leading round the final mark, a quick gybe saw them roll and clear us forcing us to sail proper course to the finish and giving them the win by a boat length. It was all on in the final race with the score now two all and another very close race with Phil ahead by a few boat lengths round the bottom mark we forced an epic taking duel of about 25 tacks closing in but still just behind at the top mark and with us almost laying the finish near the top we couldn't quite catch up enough to close in and they went on to win.Now we were sailing for third and fourth against Evan Walker in a beat of three. During the pre start, the wind died and both boats were struggling to get back to the start.Unfortunately we were following in behind so Evan got thebetter start. We closed in on him with a few tacks to within a boat length but were unable to for see a big wind change and more pressure out right leaving us in a hole stopped dead and them in about 6 knots of breeze where they sailed away and won. The breeze was still shifting by about 50 degrees and the racing continued. Evan sailed well and led off the start after we had trouble in the dial up and ended up covering us giving us no where to go to catch up. At one point, we were on opposite tacks heading in the same direction before hitting a hole and stopping for a few minutes. Quite disappointing after sailing so well against Phil however, we were pleased with fourth exceeding our expectations and learning heaps in the process. would like to thank my crew Mike and Jono, the youngest sailor at only 15, for all the hard work and training. Also thanks to Guy Pilkington our Training Manager for the advice and coaching he has given us and to Sara Roberts for organising the event. Thanks also to my cousin Adam Minoprio andhis team for coming out training with us and the umpire team and race committee. I congratulate Phil and his team on the win and lastly thank the RNZYS Youth Training Programme for giving us the opportunity to compete and learn a lot from the experience.

Michael Thorpe

Current member of the Lion Foundation Youth Training Programme 2006-2008