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By Ella Sagnol, RNZYS In a closely fought sudden-death final race between USA’s Max Brennan and the RNZYS Performance Programme team helmed by Jack Frewin, experience won the day and the Oceanbridge Auckland Match Racing Championships. While they placed second overall, Frewin and his LJ Racing Team of Sofia Higgott, Ollie Gilmour and Oliver Lloyd were rewarded for their preparation and hard work, especially during the first day’s relentless 20+kn winds and challenging sea states. As the highest-placed NZ team in the event, they also gained selection to represent RNZYS and New Zealand at the 2023 Youth Match Racing World Championships to be sailed at Sydney’s CYCA in December. “Interestingly, it was in the semi-finals where Jack Frewin defeated Robbie McCutcheon 2-0 in some of the tightest racing of the regatta” says RNZYS Performance Sailing Manager Zak Merton. “It was like watching the apprentice beat the master. Jack did Main on Robbie’s team for the Youth Match Racing Worlds last year.” Brennan also sailed in last year’s winning crew of the Youth Match Racing World Championships and will also compete at this year’s event as trimmer for his mainsheet hand this weekend- Cole Tapper. The 12 teams in this year’s Oceanbridge Youth World Match Racing Trials and Auckland Championships came from a mixture of backgrounds; for some of the Mastercard Youth Training Programme students, this was their first regatta of this calibre. A total of 73 individual races were sailed across the two days, making hard work for the sailors and the volunteer race officials who executed the programme flawlessly. The top three skippers also gained entry into the 2023 NZ Match Racing Championships to be sailed at RNZYS from 25-29 October 2023. Final standings at the Oceanbridge Auckland Match Racing Championships: 1st: Max Brennan/Cole Tapper/Nic Drummond/Hamish Vass (Balboa Yacht Club/Cruising Yacht Club of Australia) 2nd: Jack Frewin/Sofia Higgott/Ollie Gilmour/Oliver Lloyd (RNZYS Performance Programme ) 3rd: Robbie McCutcheon/Luke Cashmore/George Angus/Chester Duffett/Poppy Hoskin (RNZYS) 4th: Josh Hyde (RNZYS Performance Programme) 5th: Mason Mulcahy (RNZYS Performance Programme) 6th: Tom Picot (Cercle Nautique Calédonien) 7th: Rory Sims (RNZYS Mastercard Youth Training Programme) 8th: Hayden Smith (RNZYS Mastercard Youth Training Programme) 9th: Sam Scott (RNZYS Mastercard Youth Training Programme) 10th: Mattias Coutts (Manly Sailing Club) 11th: Tim McCulloch (Howick Sailing Club/Bucklands Beach Yacht Club) 12th: Charley Cates (Kerikeri Cruising Club) Full results here. |
