Nia Jerwood and Conor Nicholas won the mixed 470 class in the Sail Melbourne regatta by the narrowest of margins.
As the Olympic Games draw closer, every regatta becomes increasingly important for them. Sponsored by the Victorian government, Sail Melbourne has become one of the “must do” regattas for Australian “off the beach” classes and this year Royal Brighton Yacht Club, with the assistance of two near neighbour clubs, played host to 170 yachts, coordinating a team of 200 volunteers. Sailors from all over the world are drawn to this regatta because it gives northern hemisphere competitors serious competition during their winter months.
Eleven 470’s took part, including entries from Italy and New Zealand. Three had connections to South of Perth.
Everything went to plan on the first day of competition, with wins for Nia and Conor in both races. Day 2 brought similar winds in the 6 to 15 knot range and another win in race 3. The boat crossed the finish line first in race 4, only to find that they were early on the start line and disqualified.
In big seas and winds up to 22 knots on day 3, the Italian crew of Giacomo Ferrari and Allessandra Dubbini revelled in the heavy going to record wins in both races to level the points score with the Australians and on the second last race of the series, both leaders bombed out badly, recording sixth and seventh places.
Nia and Conor now had to win the last race to take out the series, which they did in fine style while the Italian crew could only manage fifth place. Once again, the two crews were equal on points, but with four wins to the Italians’ three, Nia and Conor took out the regatta on a countback, a performance which will enhance their Olympic aspirations.
Axel Fleet and Jamie Randall enjoyed a very good regatta to finish in third place, while Annabelle Jones and Vass Katsaitis finished ninth.
Ben Robinson – Outstanding in IQ Foil Youth
Head Coach Denis Jones will be delighted with the performance of his protégé Ben Robinson, who won the IQ Foil Youth division handsomely with ten wins from fifteen races. Ben proved his versatility in a wide range of conditions and clearly will make an impact when he moves into senior ranks.
Michael Compton Mixes It with the Big Boys
Michael Compton has progressed steadily through Laser ranks and now sails in the ILCA7 class (once known as Laser full rig). With World and Olympic champion Matt Wearn in the fleet, this is really a test of real talent.
As expected, Royal Perth Yacht Club’s Matt Wearn delivered, taking out first place, but the number of WA sailors doing well in this fleet is amazing. In order of their final result, they were Ethan McAullay (RPYC), Luke Elliott (FSC). Zac Littlewood (RFBYC), Stefan Elliott-Shircore (FSC) and Michael Compton (SoPYC), so six of the top ten sailors in this fleet are from WA.
Michael should be pleased with his top ten finish in this company.
Bernie Kaaks
3/12/2023
