Queensland Hobie sailors Andrew Gough & Jackson Grant returned from their major national competition with second place in the Hobie Class in the 2010 OAMPS Australian Youth Championships.
As reported the Hobie 16 class competition went ‘down to the wire with Chase Lurati and Paul Darmanin (VIC) finishing just one point ahead of Andrew Gough and Jackson Grant (QLD). The two crews won all nine races between them and were the standout boats of the fleet’ (C.Heydon, YA)
Gough (16 years) and Grant (15 years) are back at RQYS following success at local, interstate and national level. These sailors are new to the Hobie class and have been sailing Hobie 16s together for just five months. The boys are part of Yachting Queensland’s High Performance Sailing Squad and were given the opportunity to change classes and compete in the Multihull Division. They are both keen sportsmen who formed a team after joining their school’s sailing program at Brisbane Boys’ College.
Following the support of the Qld. Hobie Association and a boat from Sun State Hobies, the boys moved from their 420 into the Hobie 16. With high performance coaching, training from Yachting Qld. and club competition at RQYS against adults (described as some of the best Hobie sailors in the country) the boys quickly adapted their understanding of competitive sailing in a monohull to the multihull.
Their first major competition was the 2009 Qld. Hobie State Youth Championships a two day event, on Lake Cootharaba which they won convincingly winning all races on the first day. They then entered the NSW Hobie titles at Jervis Bay and were happy with their results of third in Youths against older sailors (up to 21 years).
The boys and their boat travelled from NSW to South Australia in readiness for the 2010 OAMPS Youth Championships at the Largs Bay Sailing Club, Adelaide. This final competition was sailed over five days in extreme conditions with temperatures hovering between 41 and 43 degrees and light to no wind. Stamina, sailing consistency and good sportsmanship were essential with a protest from their Victorian opponents after the second last day’s sailing. Because the boys were trailing by one point their major concern was possible cancellation of the final day’s competition due to dropping winds. The protest was found invalid but Gough and Grant woke to no wind on the final days racing and to their disappointment – the cancellation of the final two races.
Both boys sailed against older sailors this year and are age-eligible to compete again at the next ISAF Australian Youth Titles to be held at Botany Bay, Sydney in 2011. Their plan and motivation for 2010 is to continue racing out of Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron, Manly and in other waters around Australia. The end goal is selection into Australia’s Youth Sailing team for the Youth Sailing ISAF World Championships, Zadar Croatia, 2011.
They would like to thank the Lachlan Macfarlane and the Qld. Hobie Association, Mal Gray of Sunstate Hobie, all other Qld. Hobie sailors; Yachting Qld’s specialist coaches including Olympic multihull coach Mike Fletcher, YQ coach Ben Callard and Queensland Academy of Sport head sailing coach Adrian Finglas. Gough and Grant are currently looking at competing in the World Hobie Youths in China July/August this year.
Qld. Hobie Sailors Gough & Grant 2010 report 20.1.10