Moth racing
For another year the internationally renowned Sail Sydney has come to a close. With four days of racing, competitors were treated to different and changing conditions each day. 420 winners for two years running Alex Gough and Angus Galloway described the final day as” Tough racing that challenged all aspects of your skills, however we were happy to have taken out the regatta”.
In the Double Handed 29er class Queensland placed 2nd, 3rd and 5th. Best placed Brake and Franklin had a tough final day with a 2 and a 4 to see them unable to fight off the eventual winners White and Rooklyn. In 3rd from Southport, Queenslanders Sophie Lahey and Joel Turner finished with a 2nd in the final race to end their regatta well.
An upset in the final race of the 420 class saw Queensland women’s team Elle Brake and Jamie Ryan slip down into 3rd. The overall winners were Gough and Galloway, they took out Sail Brisbane and have done it again here in Sydney. Gough remarked “We won Sydney and Melbourne last year and to win Brisbane and Sydney this year was awesome, they were both such good regattas and we enjoyed all the racing”
In the Olympic 470 class brother sister pairing from Queensland, Sasha Ryan and Will Ryan successful held their leading position over the regatta, and took a win on the final day to secure their overall 1st. An impressive feat considering this was their first regatta real sail in the 470 class together.
Heading out towards the Laser course Ryan Palk in the full rig from Queensland raced well the entire regatta to finish in a strong 9th in a fleet of 50. In the Laser standards, Queensland’s best placed was Mitchell Kennedy in 4th after a successful final day with a 2nd and an 8th. Mitch mentioned how the racing was “One of the hardest regattas I’ve ever sailed in. The conditions were really testing, making for some great racing, it’s given me great preparation for Sail Melbourne, Nationals and the Youth trials. I’m feeling comfortable amongst my competitors which is always positive”
Ben Franklin also raced well in the final day to bump himself up to 6th after placing 3rd in the final race. In the Laser 4.7 class Queensland Sailing Team member and sister to Mitch, Madison Kennedy raced extremely well against boys and girls to come in at a close 2nd to Dylan Gore.
In the Skud 18 class Queenslander and Paralympics representative Daniel Fitzgibbon and his crew Rachel Cox had a tough regatta to come in at 4th overall. Moving to the sailboards, Queensland placed in both the Olympic RSX and the youth Bic Techno 293. Reece Baillie claimed a 3rd behind NSW and WA competitors. Luke Baillie had a consistent last day with two third’s to end up in 2nd overall to Italian Marco Baglione.
In the 49er class the only contingent for Queensland was Adam Lahey and Jacob Restall. After a tough start to the regatta they finished in 10th. The team has only been together for a short period, and are still learning the tricks to high performance 49er racing. Lahey commented that “It was a great opportunity to compete against some of the worlds best 49er sailors and a chance to get some much needed regatta experience in our new class. Following the Down Under series Lahey and Restall continue their travel, “We are heading down to Melbourne which is the first leg of the ISAF world cup with over 20 international competitors in the 49ers its sure to be a great regatta”.
For most of the team it’s either back home for rest and training, or onto Sail Melbourne one of the biggest and most internationally renowned regattas on the yachting circuit. Follow the team’s progress and keep updated with their continual success throughout the year.
Andrew Gough
Racing
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