Well done to D’Arcy Kemp and his Youth Development team for placing 9th in the HARKEN International Youth Match Racing Cup in Auckland last week.
The regatta was a challenge for all teams with variable weather conditions and a strong tide running through the race course in front of the city!
Day 1 (Thursday) was a difficult start to the regatta with the team only taking away 2 wins in very shifty conditions and the team getting used to sailing fast in strong tidal conditions.
Day 2 (Friday) was shaping up to be an exciting day with the weather forecast suggesting wind up to 30 knots on the Waitemata Harbour. It wasn’t long after docking out of the marina that teams experienced strong winds and the race committee could only get three flights underway. In the teams second and most eventful race of the event, crew member Tom Rees was ejected overboard during a gybe as a 30 knot squall hit the fleet. Moments after recovering Tom onboard and shortly after the finish, it was skipper D’Arcy Kemp’s turn to go for a swim!
Day 3 (Saturday) was redemption day for the team. The goal was to bounce back for some more race wins and move up the leader board. Despite securing another 3 race wins, the end result left RPAYC tied on points with 2 other New Zealand teams and ultimately missing out on the quarter finals on countback. The final result placed RPAYC in 9th position out of 14 teams.
Despite narrowly missing out on progressing further into the finals series, the team was very pleased with their improvement throughout the regatta. It is exciting to once again to be travelling overseas to Youth Match Racing events with a strong line-up of teams.
Congratulations to Finn Tapper and his team from the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia for their overall win in the regatta.
Thank you to Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron for hosting the event, and a special thank you to the Hyde family (from RNZYS) for billeting our sailors and coach for the week.
RPAYC Team
D’Arcy Kemp (Skipper)
Jemma Hodgson (Main trimmer)
Hugo Butterworth (Jib/Spinnaker Trim)
Thomas Rees (Bow)
Joshua Paulson (Float)
Niall Powers (Coach)
