2009 OAMPS Insurance Brokers Australian Youth Championship

10:57 AM Sun 11 Jan 2009 GMT

'Junior sailors racing in the Optimist Championship run alongside the Youth Championship makes it clear for the youngsters to see what possibilities are open to them - 2009 OAMPS Insurance Brokers Australian Youth Championship' Laura Baldwin

The sea breeze kicked in earlier today giving the sailors three races in solid winds. This regatta has been a test of endurance and stamina with the strong sea breeze kicking in each day for most of the racing. The morning gardient breeze is lighter and the first race each day has been held in this wind so giving a variety of conditions and testing more skills.

The Optimist National Championship is running alongside this event to inspire the youngsters to continue onto youth level competition. With the two events coinciding at th same venue, the pathway to follow is clear to see with all the options there in front of the juniors; 1-Person Dinghy, 2-Person Dinghy, Skiff or Windsurfing. Many of the youth sailors interviewed this week explained that it was at this regatta when they were sailing Optimists that they first decided what they wanted to go onto sail next.

Stephen Bond of Ozi Opti has been stationed ashore to give assistance to any needy sailors, offering spares and repairs to the 124 boat fleet, whilst Performance Sailcraft Australia (PSA) has been running 'Try Sailing & Windsurfing' off the beach in the safety of the harbour. The flat water and sheltered winds make it an ideal location for the youngsters to try new skills. The two RS Fevas and two BIC Technos have been whizzing about all day every day.

With only two races remaining the pressure is being felt by some and has lifted from others. The final day of racing will see 12 Australian titles awarded and the conclusion of the OAMPS Insurance Brokers Australian Youth Team Trials with one sailor in each of the following classes gaining selection to represent Australia in the most prestigious international event at youth level, the Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championship. The World Championship will be hosted in Brazil later this year.

Windsurfing Event, BIC Techno 293Class:

There is no change to the overall leader board after today's racing with Queensland's Luke Baillie still leading the charge after scoring a 1, 2, 2. Last year's Champion, Tom England from Victoria after winning the last two races. Local sailor, Eamon Robertshaw is thrilled to be in bronze medal position going into the final day. Eamon was able to get started in windsurfing after winning the, 'Peter Wainwright Memorial Award' for the 'most outstanding junior' and a grant of $1000 which he put towards buying a BIC Techno 293. With a coach like Beijing 2008 Olympic Coach, Arthur Brett it is easy to see why the youngster is gaining success so quickly.

Results:

BIC Techno 293 Race 7:
1 Luke Baillie (QLD)
2 Tom England (VIC)
3 Eamon Robertshaw (WA)

BIC Techno 293 Race 8:
1 Tom England (VIC)
2 Luke Baillie (QLD)
3 Eamon Robertshaw (WA)

BIC Techno 293 Race 9:
1 Tom England (VIC)
2 Luke Baillie (QLD)
3 Eamon Robertshaw (WA)

BIC Techno 293 Overall:
1 Luke Baillie (QLD)
2 Tom England (VIC)
3 Eamon Robertshaw (WA)
4 Reece Baillie (QLD)
5 Scott Sharpe (WA)
6 Matthew Wilmot (NSW)
7 Joanna Sterling (QLD) - 1st Girl
8 Rebecca Wyatt (NSW) - 2nd Girl
9 Emily Pettersson (WA) - 3rd Girl

* 2008 OAMPS Insurance Brokers Australian Youth BIC Techno Boys Champion: Tom England (VIC)
* 2008 OAMPS Insurance Brokers Australian Youth BIC Techno Girls Champion: NA

PSA 'Try Sailing' in RS Fevas & BIC Technos in the harbour - 2009 OAMPS Insurance Brokers Australian Youth Championship - Laura Baldwin

One-Person Dinghy Event, Laser Radial Class:

Queensland's Ashley Stoddart gave the most outstanding performance today, winning the first race followed by a 3rd and 2nd. These results move her from 8th to equal 2nd on the overall leader board against the boys. When asked what Ashley thought was making her outperform the competition she answered, 'I think it's all in the recovery, I have been focusing on that a lot. Making sure I eat and drink enough and at the right times to keep the energy levels high so that I can out hike everyone' she said between mouthfuls of pasta with meat source and Powerade.

With only two races remaining, fifteen year old Ashley Stoddart has the OAMPS Insurance Brokers Australian Youth Team Trials in the Laser Radial Girls fleet all but sown up. The same can be said in the Laser Radial Boy's trials with Curtis Skinner, also from Queensland who leads this regatta overall after winning five of the nine races.

Results:

Laser Radial Race 7:
1 Ashley Stoddart (QLD)
2 Scott Sydney (SIN)
3 Christopher Jones (TAS)

Laser Radial Race 8:
1 Curtis Skinner (QLD)
2 Christopher Jones (TAS)
3 Ashley Stoddart (QLD)

Laser Radial Race 9:
1 Curtis Skinner (QLD)
2 Ashley Stoddart (QLD)
3 Christopher Jones (TAS)

Laser Radial Overall:
1 Curtis Skinner (QLD)
2 Scott Sydney (SIN)
3 Ashley Stoddart (QLD) - 1st Girl
4 Christopher Jones (TAS)
5 Mark Whittington (WA)
6 Elizabeth Yin (SIN) - 2nd Girl
7 Elliott Noye (TAS)
8 Benjamin Franklin (QLD)
9 Mitchell Kennedy (QLD)
10 Brendan Torpelund (QLD)

Laser Radial Girls Leader Board After Day Two:
1 Ashley Stoddart (QLD)
2 Elizabeth Yin (SIN)
3 Alex South (NSW)

* 2008 OAMPS Insurance Brokers Australian Youth Girls Laser Radial Champion: Gabrielle King (NSW)
* 2008 OAMPS Insurance Brokers Australian Youth Boys Laser Radial Champion: Elliott Noye (TAS)

Two-Person Dinghy Event, 420 Class:

Western Australia's, David Gilmour and James Omay have led the 420 regatta from day one, showing exceptional strong wind boat handling. The standings are still close at the top with Matthew Jerwood and Patrick Vos winning the last two races so tomorrows races are still important.

Queensland's Sean Ott and Adam Lahey found form today scoring 3, 2, 3 moving them up to bronze medal position but on equal points with the 4th placed Singaporean Team and one point from 5th placed Angus Galloway and Alexander Gough who are achieving above their expectations. The Queensland Team where 2nd overall going into today after winning the opening race and consistently finishing at the front end of the fleet. The team came through the Schools Team Racing program and have been sailing 420 together for just under a year. Alex told, 'Our performance here gives us a good feeling of our potential for future success. We have two years left at Youth level to achieve our goal of winning selection onto the OAMPS Youth Team'.

Angus and Alex's Teams Racing Coach educated them in the pathways and sold them on the Olympic Dream. Their preferred class is the 470 because 'To win in a 470 is a tougher challenge than other classes because it requires more skills in tuning and racing, it's not just a case of going fast'. Both boys' eyes sparkled as they spoke and it is clear to see that they are hungry for success and sold on the sport of sailing. Angus credited their coach, Adrian Finglas saying, 'Adrian is an awesome coach, he connects on a personal level and his enthusiasm and passion for the sport it very motivational'.

Red eyed from the sun and salt spray, Lauren Thredgold and Megan Soulsby from South Australia happily told, 'We had a great day, we were beating the boys until the final reach, it was really good out there'. The team is leading the Youth Team trials after today but it is still close on points with Aimee Negri and Breanna Vos keeping the pressure on.

Results:

420 Race 7:
1 David Gilmour/James Omay (WA)
2 Matthew Jerwood/Patrick Vos (WA)
3 Sean Ott/Adam Lahey (QLD)

420 Race 8:
1 Matthew Jerwood/Patrick Vos (WA)
2 Sean Ott/Adam Lahey (QLD)
3 Karl Bromfield/Marcus CONWAY (NSW)

420 Race 9:
1 Matthew Jerwood/Patrick Vos (WA)
2 David Gilmour/James Omay (WA)
4 Sean Ott/Adam Lahey (QLD)

420 Overall:
1 David Gilmour/James Omay (WA)
2 Matthew Jerwood/Patrick Vos (WA)
3 Sean Ott/Adam Lahey (QLD)
4 Justin Liu/Sherman Cheng (SIN)
5 Angus Galloway/Alexander Gough (QLD)
6 Byron White/Jay Griffin (NSW)
7 Henry Say/James Owen-Smith (VIC)
8 Karl Bromfield/Mrcus CONWAY (NSW)
9 Lauren Thredgold/Megan Soulsby (SA) - 1st Grils
10 William Llewelyn/Harry Mighell (VIC)

420 Girl's Leader Board After Day Two:
1 Lauren Thredgold & Megan Soulsby (SA)
2 Aimee Negri & Breanna Vos (WA)
3 Griselda Khng & Cecilia Low (SIN)

* 2008 OAMPS Insurance Brokers Australian Youth Boys Champion: David Gilmour & Andres Noe (WA)
* 2008 OAMPS Insurance Brokers Australian Youth Girls Champion: Sanne Koelemij & Breanna Vos (WA)

420 Leaders, David Gilmour and James Omay - 2009 OAMPS Insurance Brokers Australian Youth Championship - Laura Baldwin

One-Person Dinghy Event, the Laser 4.7 Class:

After winning five of the nine races, Nicolas Poree (FRA) has a 17 point lead over Tasmanian, Zac Pullen and Queenslander, Andrew Torpellund on equal points for the Laser 4.7 Championship podium places.

Gaining in strength as the regatta goes on is Martina Ciotti (WA) who scored 5, 1, 2 today in the open fleet. This closed the gap on the leading lady, Alison Dale with just 3 points separating the two.

Results:

Laser 4.7 Race 7:
1 Zac Pullen (TAS)
2 Kevin Punselie (WA)
3 Mark Wong (SIN)

Laser 4.7 Race 8:
1 Martina Ciotti (WA)
2 Alexander Knight (AUS)
3 Alison Dale (VIC)

Laser 4.7 Race 9:
1 Nicolas Poree (FRA)
2 Martina Ciotti (WA)
3 Alexander Knight (AUS)

Laser 4.7 Overall:
1 Nicolas Poree (FRA)
2 Zac Pullen (TAS)
3 Andrew Torpelund (QLD)
4 Alexander Knight (AUS)
5 Matt Wearn (WA)
6 Alison Dale (VIC) - 1st Girl
7 Nicholas Howe (NSW)
8 Stephen Collings (VIC)
9 Martina Ciotti (WA) - 2nd Girl
10 Harald Faste (NOR)

Laser 4.7 Girls Leader Board After Day Two:
1 Alison Dale (VIC)
2 Martina Ciotti (WA)
3 Ashlie Lane (NT)

* 2008 OAMPS Insurance Brokers Australian Youth Boys Champion: Stephen Collings (VIC)
* 2008 OAMPS Insurance Brokers Australian Youth Girls Champion: Ashlie Lane (NT)

Two-Person Skiff Event, 29er Class:

The 29er Skiffs had the wildest time out there today reaching exhilarating speeds. These boats look impressive to spectators with ther big colourful spinnakers and modern rigs. Adam Glaskin and James Loughridge (WA) dominated today by winning all three races. Still only 2 points behind the leaders are James Sly and Andrew Gillies (VIC) who have an 8 point cushion over Angus Rankin and James Dahl (QLD).

Results:

29er Race 7:
1 Adam Glaskin/James Loughridge (WA)
2 Daniel Roberts/Leo Showell (WA)
3 Angus Rankin/James Dahl (QLD)

29er Race 8:
1 Adam Glaskin/James Loughridge (WA)
2 James Sly/Andrew Gillies (VIC)
3 Angus Rankin/James Dahl (QLD)

29er Race 9:
1 Adam Glaskin/James Loughridge (WA)
2 James Sly/Andrew Gillies (VIC)
3 Jack Lloyd/James Lainson

29er Overall:
1 Adam Glaskin/James Loughridge (WA)
2 James Sly/Andrew Gillies (VIC)
3 Angus Rankin/James Dahl (QLD)
4 Jack Lloyd/James Lainson (VIC)
5 Daniel Roberts/Leo Showell (WA)
6 Sean Carr/Jesse Craig (WA)
7 Bec Tuma/Emma Louise Daly (VIC)
8 Jason White/Reagan Watson (WA)
9 Thomas Stuchbery/Alexander McGuigan (VIC)