PERTH, WA – RPAYC was represented at last week’s Warren Jones International Youth Match Racing Regatta by Daniel Kemp (helm), D’Arcy Kemp, Isabella Holdsworth, Louis Tilly, Joshua Paulson, and Charlie Verity, all graduates of the Youth Development Program.
Unlike many local events (which are sailed on Elliott 7 keelboats), the Warren Jones regatta is sailed in Foundation 36 yachts, and has an age limit of 25 years. The “Foundos” put a premium on elite boat handling, therefore favouring teams who have had more experience in the boats and conditions, which invariably include strong south-westerly “Fremantle Doctor” seabreezes in the afternoons with scorching heat.
Kemp’s team, now in their second year competing, were determined to improve on their 7th place finish last year. The team started off the Round-Robin on day 1 (which featured gusts of up to 33 knots) with a reasonable scorecard of 3-3. However, the team were able to capitalise on their learnings and only lost 1 further race in the round-robin racing, finishing the qualifying stage in 3rd out of 12. With this result, Kemp and team came up against the CYCA Youth Sailing Academy team of Ben Crafoord in the Quarter-finals, thoroughly winning this series 3-0.
In the semi-finals, Kemp and team were level with home-town favourite Marcello Torre at the end of day 3 of racing, with a scorecard of 1-1. However, Torre’s experience in these boats shone through in the breezy conditions on the fourth and final day. Despite Kemp being the first to the top mark in every race of the semi-finals, Torre and team demonstrated their expert boat handling particularly in the spinnaker sets and douses, ultimately taking the series 3-1. Matias Rossing and his team from the Royal Danish Yacht Club then raced our team in the shortened petit final for 3rd place. In the “sudden death” race, Rossing and team managed to overtake our team on the final downwind leg to take 3rd.
At the presentation, our team were awarded the perennial “shoey” award by the organising committee for outstanding sportsmanship throughout the week of racing.
Of the week’s racing, Kemp commented:
“We are stoked with our progression this week. After a rusty first day, where we experienced the fullest extent of the Fremantle ‘Doctor’, the team did a sensational job of analysing where we could improve with every manoeuvre. Despite the bitter-sweet ending, the team had the goal of making the semi-finals, and we achieved this.”
RPAYC extends its thanks to the RFBYC for its hospitality of our team, and in particular members Martin Jurat, Martina Sackmann, and Kane Williamson for hosting our team at their homes this week.
Kemp and team now turn their attention to upcoming events Hardy Cup and the Toyota Youth International Cup, where they continue to build momentum towards the Youth World Match Racing Championship in Denmark in late June.
