Congratulations to our two Youth Development teams, who have just returned from competing in Hobart for the 2024 Australian Youth and Open National Match Racing Championship.
RPAYC’s team of Daniel Kemp (skipper), Louis Tilly, and Charlie Verity bounced back from a tricky first day to take out second place in the National Youth Championship!
After finishing 80% of the round-robin series, the Race Committee made the decision to end the series prematurely due to time constraints. This meant that our two YD teams faced off against each other in an all-RPAYC Semi-Final. After some close moments, Daniel and team defeated Hugo Butterworth, Bayley Taylor, and Joshua Paulson 2-0 to advance through to the finals, against the RSYS team.
In the first race of the Finals, Daniel and team scored a penalty on their opponents in the pre-start, and were able to maintain their lead throughout the race to go 1-0 up in the series. In the second race of the finals, it was Kemp’s turn to receive a penalty in the pre-start, and although the RPAYC team managed to grow their lead throughout the race, they did not have quite enough room to finish their penalty turn on the finish line before the RSYS team had sailed past them to take the series to 1-1.
In the final race, the RSYS team got the better of the start, and our team struggled to match their pace upwind as the wind steadily built. The heavier Squadron team were able to hike the Elliot 6m boats down harder to ultimately take the series 2-1.
Of the regatta, Daniel had to say:
“Certainly Hobart threw some tricky conditions for all of the competitors, with near negative temperatures on the first day, and 100 degree shifts at times during the racing. However, we have really enjoyed the chance to race these different boats down here and enjoy racing some of these top match racers. Our thanks, as always, to RPAYC Head Coach Rob Brewer, who helped to keep us on track and in tune with the racing.”
In the petit final, Hugo Butterworth and team were unable to lock in a ‘podium finish’ despite some determined sailing on their part.
For our Youth Development teams, their attention now turns to the RPAYC’s own Harken International Youth Regatta, scheduled for 18-22 November 2024. Both our teams will be looking to continue their momentum on the match racing circuit on home waters.
Read more on the HARKEN International Youth Regatta HERE
View full results from the 2024 Australian Youth and Open Match Racing Championship HERE