1:08 AM Fri 6 Nov 2009 GMT
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'Martin Todd - USYD and UTS in pre-start - Australian University Teams Racing 09'
Cameron Cooke Martin Todd
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From October 2-4, eleven teams from seven universities competed in the Australian University Teams Racing Regatta, held at the Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club, north of Sydney. The event was the first of what is going to become a new Australian University Teams Racing Championship held annually. The event was run in Pacer Dinghies with a 130kg weight minimum which allowed for some intense close racing.
Teams Racing in Australia has predominantly taken place between high schools. The establishment of a new university teams racing championship provides an excellent opportunity for the expansion of the discipline and the development of competitive racing between universities. The weather of the first day provided an excellent day of racing with almost a complete round robin completed. Strong competition was quickly established between the top teams from UQ, QUT, USYD, UTS and UNSW. For many of the teams, it was the first time they had participated in a Teams Racing regatta, but the highly tactical, close competitive racing provided a refreshing alternative from standard fleet events. As the first day developed, many of the teams became increasingly serious about the racing and quickly improved many of the manoeuvres critical to teams racing.
Day two proved to be less productive as the weather over the holiday long weekend deteriorated. Nevertheless, the University of Western Australia made their mark once racing began, getting very wet in the rain but winning all their races. After various breaks to allow for poor weather, the day was completed at 4pm and everyone headed home. On Saturday night, the main social event of the regatta was held at Mona Vale Surf Club. Befitting the venue, the beach theme saw many dressed in Hawaiian floral shirts and other matching items. Big thanks to Gain Solutions for providing the speaking system which allowed us to party the night away and the Surf Club for providing the great beach front venue.
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Cameron Cooke - Boats at Top Mark - Day 1 - Australian University Teams Racing 09 - Cameron Cooke Martin Todd
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The third and final day saw an earlier than usual rise in account of the daylight saving change. Surprisingly, almost everyone made it to RPAYC on time despite light wind delaying the start. To maintain close racing, the teams were split into a gold and silver fleet based on the results of the first round robin. The top six teams made up the gold fleet and five for the silver. In the silver fleet, close racing developed between USYD 2, ANU 1 and UNSW 2 with the final result in that order. These teams showed great improvement over the regatta and we can be sure to expect great things in the near future. The standard of sailors in the gold fleet was exceptional for an establishing event and although many were new to teams racing, the tactical racing has left its mark. While the addition of an umpire is similar to match racing, the team element and differences in the rules makes teams racing a speciality discipline which was represented in the final results. The results of the first round robin counted towards the final results allowing the University of Queensland to take out the gold fleet despite the University of Western Australia sailing a perfect round in the gold round robin. Third went to UTS, forth to QUT and fifth and sixth to USYD and UNSW respectively.
The regatta continues as a part test event after a fleet racing regatta held in April. The teams racing regatta had the support of Australian University Sport and Yachting Australia who are currently working with students and universities to establish Sailing as a university sport from 2010. The next Australian University Games will be held in Perth in 2010 and although details are yet to be finalised, the general goal is to have teams racing and match racing as components of the event. The next university regatta to take place will be a repeat of the yard stick fleet racing regatta during either March or April of 2010 with the venue in NSW yet to be finalised.
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Martin Todd - Protest - Australian University Teams Racing 09 - Cameron Cooke Martin Todd
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To find out more about Australian University Sailing, join 'Australian University Sailing Events' on facebook (
www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=75234092430&;ref=ts
) or go to
www.usydsailing.com
Teams List in order of results:
Gold Fleet
1. UQ: Stephen Mastin, Rhys Thiele, Emma Douglas, Maxwell Creedy, Warwick Heath, Alex Russo
2. UWA: Remy Donraadt, Luc Tasker, Brad Girvan, Tom Henderson, Belinda Kerl, Nadia Punselie
3. UTS: Hugh Tait, Stephanie Sheridan, Katie Webb, Lucinda Whitty, Samantha Boyd, Nick Curtis
4. QUT: Tom Johns, Michael Johns, Sam Kerr, Robyn Stock, Alexi Kerr, Ho (Ben) Fai
5. USYD 1: Tom Brewer, Rhys Mara, Krystal Weir, Tom Mallet, Alana Bracken, Josie Roper
6. UNSW 1: Tara McCall, Kylie Upton, Cameron Edwards, Len Martin, George Bryan, Alice Walker, Ajay Rau
Silver Fleet
1. USYD 2: Jochen Shroeder, Olivia Clark, Gregoire David, Ollie Cashman, Clara Wilder, Christine Hsieh
2. ANU 1: Jean-Fran?ois Morizur, Elise Bertet, Jesse Kennedy, Patrick Williams, Andrew Li, Christopher Bhalla, Alexander Robinson, Yves Al-Ghazi
3. UNSW 2: Daniel Vianna, Sam Hwang, Ivana Maric, Richard Cornwell, Mike Vincent, Oliver Turner, Cam Cooke
4. ANU 2: Alaksandr Minovich, Takuma Myoshi, Viktor Gal, Zhi Huang & ...
5. USYD 3: Johnson Yuen, Florian Gioreli, Angelo Socal, Jess Wells, Christophe Spicher, Gerhard Samer
A huge thanks to Zhik, Bethwaite Design and the Coop Bookshop for providing great regatta prizes. Also to PRO, Nick Hutton, Umpires, Ian Humphries, Kingsley Forbes-Smith, David Adams and Tom Spithill, and Skippers Afloat for providing the change-over boat. Last but not least, thanks to RPAYC and their great staff for providing a great venue and a great regatta.
by Tom Mallet
Click on thumbnails to enlarge and find more photos:
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Troughton Island, WA
