ALGIES BAY, NEW ZEALAND-(25-4-2003) Another long day on the water in Day Three of the Yachting New Zealand Youth Sail Regatta, finishing with leaders in all but one class dominating their fleets.
420 sailors Olivia Powrie/Sarah Bilkey lead the 420 girls fleet by 40 points from Hayley Wilson/Rosie Sargisson. Powrie/Bilkey have been competing on an equal footing in the men’s fleet currently lying 4th overall. Powrie – one of New Zealand’s top P Class sailors has made the progression to double handed classes with ease and with some long hours training, her and crew Sargisson are getting the results.
Scott Kennedy/Alastair Thompson won all three races in today’s light to moderate conditions, jumping them ahead 5 points clear of Myles Cleave/Nick Sayes. Cleave/Sayes now have a big job on their hand to make up the lost ground from today’s racing. Garth Ellingham/Scott Illingworth lie third in this 16 strong fleet. It will not be surprising if we see these sailors move into the Olympic classes in coming years following in the footsteps of World 470 Champions Simon Cooke/Peter Nicholas.
The gap closed in the Laser class today between Blair McLay and Luke Judge. Judge finished the day with a 2, 1, 5 while McLay pulled out some great results with a 1, 2, 1. McLay will find it tough to make up the six points with only 3 remaining races, but in yacht racing, anything can happen.
Things are somewhat different on the Europe course. Jo Aleh and Jane Macky have been battling it out race for race throughout the series but it was Aleh today who was the more consistent of the two today, finishing 1, 2, 1 with Macky 2, 1, 3. The race for this title is not over yet.
Female boardsailors Anna Eason and Hayley Thom lie 4 points apart after racing today with Eason making a small jump with consistent races today. She will be hoping to extend her lead tomorrow.
Boardsailor David Robertson continued his dominance winning all races today, however one was not without a fight. In the second race of the day Robertson was late for the start and spent the rest of the race playing catch up, finally passing Antonio Cozzolino on the final leg to the finish to take the race.
Overall Standings:
Laser 1 Luke Judge (13 points) 2 Blair McLay (19 points) 3 Thomas Powrie (24 points)
Europe 1 Jo Aleh (11 points) 2 Jane Macky (12 points)
Mistral (Men and Women) 1 David Robertson (8 points) 2 Anna Eason (23 points) – FIRST GIRL 3 Antonio Cozzolino (27 points) 4 Hayley Thom (27 points) – SECOND GIRL
420 1 Scott Kennedy/Alastair Thompson 11 points) 2 Myles Cleave/Nick Sayes (16 points) 3 Garth Ellingham/Scott Illingworth (28 points) 4 Olivia Powrie/Sarah Bilkey (34 points) – FIRST GIRLS 9 Hayley Wilson/Rosie Sargisson (74 points) – SECOND GIRLS
Other Youth Classes (Starling, 29er, P Class, Splash)
Starling sailor Max Andrews finished the day with a 3, 4, 1 to now lie 6 points ahead of Luke Adams with Chris Dawson in third. Nicole Halliburton from Glendowie Boating Club is the first girl currently in 5th place.
In the 29er skiff class, Dunedin sailors Peter Graham/George Wills won all 3 races today to lead overall while the race is on for 2nd and 3rd between Craig Campbell/Iain Begg and Jim Maloney/Jimmy Maloney on 25 and 26 points respectively.
P Class sailor Michael Langley sailed consistently today, not finishing outside the top 4 to lie 6 points ahead of Napier sailor James Sandall in second and Joshua Adams in 3rd. In the Splash class, Brett Elstob continues to dominate from James Ledingham in 2nd and Andy Maloney in 3rd.
Overall Standings:
Starling 1 Max Andrews (9 points) – Akl 2 Luke Adams (9 points) - Akl 3 Aaron Hume-Merry (30 points) – Wgn
29er 1 Peter Graham/George Wills (8 points) – Dunedin 2 Craig Campbell/Iain Begg (25 points) – Dunedin 3 Jim Maloney/Jimmy Maloney (26 points) – Kerikeri 4 Helen Caley/Jane Monk (30 points) – Dunedin – FIRST GIRLS
P Class 1 Michael Langley (11 points) – Auckland 2 James Sandall (17 points) – Napier 3 Joshua Adams (18 points) – Warkworth
Splash 1 Brett Elstob (5 points) – Taipa 2 James Ledingham (12 points) – Whangarei 3 Andy Maloney (13 points) – Kerikeri
The last day of racing will be sailed tomorrow, starting at 10am with 3 races scheduled.
At the conclusion of this event, Yachting New Zealand will select the NZ Youth Sailing Team to represent New Zealand at the ISAF World Youth Sailing Championships in Portugal in July. Yachting New Zealand will also select a National Youth Squad to work with Yachting New Zealand coaches over the coming months to improve their performances.
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