The young and enthusiastic Iona College Junior Sailing Team have taken out the Queensland Junior Team’s Racing Championships for 2011. Hosted by the Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron the regatta came down to the final race, Iona and the junior Brisbane Boys’ College (BBC) team battled it out on the last leg in the light conditions.
The small but competitive fleet of four teams struggled through the planned first round as light and fickle conditions made racing impossible. It wasn’t until the glassy conditions were filled by a steadier 5- 8knot sea breeze that the short two rounds could be completed.
All four teams raced each other twice and Moreton Bay Girls College (MBC) with four wins came in to finish in 3rd overall. Georgie Toner MBC’s Sailing Captain said “The racing was really light, we have a very young team and it was their first major regatta together so communication was difficult between them”.
Brisbane Boys College came in for 2nd place after narrowly loosing to Iona in the final race. Iona had a total of eight race wins, impressively only loosing once. “It was pretty light, the racing all came down to the final leg and last reach mark it was pretty close” said Lockie Robba Iona Sailing Team’s lead skipper.
Although Iona took the win, the BBC team had a very successful day winning six races and only loosing to MBC in the first round and Iona in the second. Hayden Johnson BBC Sailing captain commented on their days racing, “We were going fine after the first round, we beat Iona but lost to MBC” he continued to say “Our concentration and boat speed lacked in the second round, and that lost us the regatta”.
While the Iona juniors take home their championship trophy the teams racing has only just begun. Saturday and Sunday see the Open and Schools teams hit the bay for some intense and highly competitive racing.
Andrew Gough