With racing eventually getting under way at 11:00am on day three of the Australian Youth Match Racing Championship (AYMRC) 2008, the lead boats in both semi-finals took their opening matches convincingly, however with a light and shifty breeze, both trailing boats flew a red protest flag, throwing the result into question at that time.

After a brief hearing by the umpires, the protests were thrown out and racing resumed.

The large gaps between finishes in flight one proved that in match racing in light conditions, it is crucial to stay with your opponent and cover them constantly.

A freshening NW breeze resulted in a change to the course area, which proved a challenge to those competitors who trailed going into flight two.

In the battle for the minor placing, it was RSYS's Chapman who came out firing, winning both his matches in emphatic fashion to finish the AYMRC in fifth spot. This set up a flight three showdown between RFBYC's Brown
and MDSC's O'Rourke for sixth and seventh. O'Rourke threw everything at Brown in the day's final race; however fell agonizingly short, giving the West Australian's a sixth placing and O'Rourke seventh.

The two semi-finals lived up to expectation, with skillful sailing from all crews. RSYS's Quartly went into the first semi final as favourites, having defeated CYCA's Searle twice in the round robin. Quartly lived up to expectations as he pulled ahead in the light breeze, defeating Searle by just under five minutes.

In a thrilling pre-start to the second match between the two competitors, Searle forced Quartly into a penalty, however Quartly's superior boat handling skills on the day enabled him to get a match-winning lead, wiping off
the penalty at the top mark to run home on the downwind leg and into tomorrow's final.

CYCA's Ryan, who is fast becoming favoured to defend his crown, proved he will indeed be a challenge for Quartly to beat, after completing a two races to nil sweep of DSC's Whitty.

Race one provided excitement as the two boats split on opposite tacks after the start. It was Ryan who benefitted most by going on a starboard tack in towards the mainland. Ryan picked up a freshening breeze and sailed out to a ten boat-length lead by the top mark. This extended into almost three minutes at the bottom mark.

Whitty fought hard, however as her spinnaker collapsed on the first downwind leg, so did her chances in race one, as Ryan edged out a big win.

Race two saw Whitty throw down the challenge to Ryan from the very first cross. As the two boats circled, ducked and dodged each other, Whitty caught Ryan napping early in the prestart, forcing Ryan to pick up a penalty metres before the start line. In almost a carbon copy of race two of the first semi-final, Ryan rounded the last mark with ample time to complete his penalty, and powered home with a freshening NW breeze to set up a match with Quartly for the AYMRC.

Heading into the final's match, the leader board looks like this:
Final: CYCA / YNSW - Ryan v RSYS / YNSW - Quartly
3rd / 4th: CYCA / YNSW - Searle v DSC / YNT - Whitty
Minor Placings:
5th - RSYS / YNSW - Chapman
6th - RFBYC / YWA - Brown
7th - MDSC / YQLD - O'Rourke

by Event Media

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