NSW Youth Championships finishes with ideal conditions

4:36 AM Wed 5 Oct 2011 GMT

'Caitlin Tames and Laurne Cini on their 420 Shazam. - 2011 Nautilus Marine NSW Youth Championships' Mainsheet Media

A pleasant 20 knots was reached on the water on the third and final day on the 2011 Nautilus Marine NSW Youth Championships on Lake Illawarra. The more relaxed looks on the faces of the competitors said it all after the wild rig and ego damaging second day faded in the memory of the sailors.

After running repairs and much needed sleep the fleets headed out. The NSW sailors had something to prove as the visiting teams from Victoria, Queensland and the ACT had provided stiff competition over the regatta so far.

In the 29er class Tess Lloyd and Lewis Duncan from Sandringham in Victoria had been sailing Fighissima into the top three consistently and the last day was to prove a similar story. Taking out a first in all three races, they topped the leader board for the regatta.

Rounding out the top three in the 29ers was Seriously Guided sailed by Tom Siganto and Joel Turner. Sailing out of Southport Yacht Club, Seriously Guided had a consistent regatta only being out of the top three in three of the ten races. Third in the regatta was Crunchie sailed by Harry Price and Nathan Edwards who's DNF in race two spoiled their final point score.

The 420 class was taken out by the team from Royal Prince Alfred Yacht club whose boats filled the top three. Planit sailed by James Brewer and Dylan Passmore won the regatta with seven firsts out of the ten races. Caitlin Tames and Lauren Cini added that little bit of magic with Shazam coming in second, and Xavier Winston-Smith and Ravi Raj hit the road with Highway 90 taking third.

On the boards Sam Treharne showed has salty heritage by dominating with ten firsts out of ten starts. Blowing away the competition but always kept in sight by his good friend Annalise Gilbert whose consistent second placings gave her second overall in the regatta.

Both from Middle Harbour Yacht Club, Treharne and Gilbert will be keeping other countries' competitors honest in coming regattas. Rounding out the top three in the Bic Techno 293 class was Ashely Heyworth.

The Flying 11 class is one of the most popular classes and the competition remained fierce throughout the three days. Never dominated by one crew, the leader board chopped and changed until the casually named Whatever with Angus Williams and Jesse Lilley took out the regatta on sixteen points.

Also out of Manly 16ft Skiff Club, the Flying 11 Fired Up lit up second place for Madeleine Clancy and Simon Boardman and Jack Buchan and Emma Jones on Hammer Time out of Belmont placed third.

The Flying Ants saw the current state champion Misguided Missile out of Port Kembla Sailing Club take out first place. The lake saw the locals Dante Oliveri and Lachlan Nardone guide their missile to a three point lead over Corey Hamilton and Sam Mitchell's On Fire. On Fire and Jack Flash, who placed third, are both from Toronto Sailing Club.

The Victorian boat Maximus took the signal and unleased hell with a score of nine to win the regatta. Jack Felsenthal from Sandringham had a fourteen point lead over second place getter Cassandra Schlimbach on Blonde Moments out of Canberra Yacht Club, whilst Jessica Case boxed into third on Rocky.

The Laser Radials saw a lot of state versus state with those below the border coming out on top. From McRae Yacht Club Thomas Vincent sailed his Shadow into first place followed closely by the Queenslander Jake Lilley just one point behind. Out of Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club Nicholas Conner brought Whomp into third.

The permanent grin on Alec Brodie's face never faded as his Optimist Ran lead the fleet to give him first in the regatta on eleven points. Optimists are a favourite for this age group and the size of the fleet at the NSW Championships illustrated this. Finnian Alexander from Woollahra Sailing Club onboard Finnatic came in second overall, and Jaime Swavley was third on Ytse Jam.

The Optimist Green fleet had Liam Beavan out of Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club win the regatta after winning six out of the nine races. Charlotte Alexander kept her Poker Face in second, while Middle Harbour sailor John-Mark Paul brought Rocasaurus in for third on the board. Demi Gilbert and Sascha Heyworth took first place in the Manly Juniors.

Slippery Little Sucker is easy for you to say and Matthew Lang made the name be repeated many times by the results announcers as he sailed into first place. His beaut looking Sabot was followed by Dana Tavener on Firebolt taking out second place nine points behind, and Louis Collins on Luigi rounded out the top three. Jessica Tavener and Eve Peel on Mercurial Shifts placed first in the Sabot 2-up class.

The 2011 Nautilus Marine NSW Youth Championships was an outstanding success with over 140 boats and 220 crew attending. Sailors from sailing clubs all over NSW competed, with teams coming in from Victoria, Queensland and the Australian Capital Territory.

Yachting NSW would like to thank Nautilus Marine, Gill Australia, Steve Jarvin Motors and Tohatsu Outboards for their ongoing support of youth sailing in New South Wales.

NSW Maritime as the safety partner, the NSW Institute of Sport, the NSW Department of Sport and Recreation, and the valuable contribution of Marine Rescue all played an active part in making the regatta such a resounding success.

Yachting NSW would also like to acknowledge the additional support of NB Laser, GME, Harken, the media and also the energetic team of volunteers and officials. Thanks also to the crew at Illawarra Yacht Club for hosting and organising the three days of sailing.