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ISAF Youth Worlds - Byron's Review |
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Byron White and Tom Koerner have just returned from representing Australia at the ISAF Youth World Championship in Turkey. They finished 8th overall and it's probably fair to say that they were hoping to do better. Unfortunately, the conditions were light throughout the regatta so they had no opportunity to test themselves in a bit of breeze. Nevertheless, they clearly had a great time and have learnt a lot. I asked Byron to write a review which he has kindly done so read for yourselves.....
We went to the ISAF Youth World championships in July. They were held in the city of Istanbul, in Turkey. Turkey is a beautiful country full of culture and history. We were lucky to arrive a few days early, on the 3rd July, before the regatta with the Australian Youth Sailing Team. This gave the team time to acclimatise to the sudden summer weather, and the jet lag. We spent a lot of this time looking around the marina where the event would be held, and observing wind patterns over time. We were also lucky to spend time visiting the markets in the city and finding bargains with the locals.
On the 8th July the venue opened to the competitors and boats were allocated to the teams. At the youth worlds, boats are supplied by the organisers and are all exactly the same, creating no equipment advantages. Most teams spent the next two days setting their boats up and testing them on the water. This year was the biggest event in history, with 61 nations and 341 sailors competing in the Lasers, 420s, RSX, SL16, and 29ers.
The day the racing started was the day the wind disappeared. With most of the regatta sailed in less than 5 knots, and 20-30 degree shifts up the course, we had a lot to do to succeed. I last went to the youth worlds in 2008, in Denmark with Rhys Mara. Since then, the European 29er fleet has been building, and getting a lot more competitive. This was obvious straight away from the start line, where an almost perfect start would only keep you up with the standard of the fleet. This is probably due to the Europeans competing in high standard fleets, with lots of competitors. The light winds and shifty conditions meant long days on the water in the heat with racing being somewhat questionable in terms of fairness. However, the race committee did an excellent job considering the challenge they had been given with the conditions. Unfortunately the conditions got the better of myself and Tom, leaving us with some high scoring races in the first few days. Once we got the hang of the conditions, and used to racing once again (our last competition was in the Australian summer) we were climbing back up the leader board. There wasn’t enough time to get into a medal position, and we finished 8th.
The youth worlds was a great opportunity to learn more about competitive sailing, travel, and make new friends from around the world. We also learned more about how different set-ups of trim by different nations can lead to similar results.
In future, it would make a lot of sense to send the nominated Australian team to an earlier regatta in Europe prior to the Worlds. Y.A are considering this, I hear.
The 29er class will again be sailed at the 2012 Worlds to be held in Croatia mid next year. I encourage people to try to win qualification to the Youth Worlds – it’s an awesome event!
Byron White
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ISAF Youth Worlds underway in Turkey |
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Byron White and Thomas Koerner practising in Turkey in the kind of breeze they hope for during the series. After day 1 in very light conditions they recorded 12,4,12 to be 8th overall at the end of the first day. Byron and Tom have been training regularly since they were selected at the Youth Nationals in Adelaide in January so are itching to get into the competition.
Follow their progress at the following sites...
2010 Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championship: www.isafyouthworlds.com
Link to the Volvo Youth Worlds Facebook site: www.facebook.com/pages/Volvo-Youth-Worlds/93806273347
Great photos here
Schedule
Thursday 8 July - Arrival Day
Friday 9 July - Training Day and Opening Ceremony
Saturday 10 July - Practice Day
Sunday 11 July - First Official Race Day (3 raced scheduled)
Monday 12 July - Second Official Race Day (3 races scheduled)
Tuesday 13 July - Lay Day
Wednesday 14 July - Third Official Race Day (3 races scheduled)
Thursday 15 July - Fourth Official Race Day (2 races scheduled)
Friday 16 July - Fifth Official Race Day (1 race scheduled) and Prize Giving and Closing Ceremony
Saturday 17 July - Departure Day
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Sly & Dwyer take out 29ers at Qld Youth Week 2010 |
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Queensland in July proved to be an attractive option, especially for Victorians in search of some respite from winter and a chance to try out new crew combinations for the season ahead. From a 29er perspective, it was great to see 6 Victorian boats make the 20hour drive north to join 8 Qld boats and one from NSW. Special mention should also be made of the lone Northern Territorian, Gordon Campbell, who also made the trek down to Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron in Manly, Qld.
There was no chance to ease into the many new crew combinations in the 29er fleet at Qld Youth week as a 20-25knot westerly chopped up Moreton Bay. Of the 15 entries, only 5 boats managed to start and finish each race in the challenging conditions. Current national champion skipper, James Sly combined best with his new crew, Tom Dwyer, to start their regatta with 2 bullets on the opening day. Queenslanders Josh Franklin and Lewis Brake went 3,2 to match Victorians George Davies and Jack Lloyd's 2,3 to establish a pattern of close racing which was to be a feature of this regatta. Tess Lloyd and Andrew Gillies, current national champion crew, looked good but succumbed to gear breakage with Jess Hansen and Liam Hilton surviving the conditions with a 5,5.
Subsequent days brought gentler breeze and extremely tight racing with lead changes occurring throughout the races. Tess Lloyd & Andrew Gillies added 2 bullets to their score on day 2 to make it tight at the top of the leader board. They repeated this feat on day 3 with Davies/Lloyd getting the other win but Sly/Dwyer and Franklin/Brake refused to slide back in the fleet. When Franklin/Brake picked up 2 bullets on day 4 the series finished with a 3 way tie on points which was ultimately broken in favour of Sly & Dwyer. After 10 races Lloyd/Gillies were 2 points adrift after dropping a couple of places on the final work of the final race. Any one of these 4 boats could easily have won the regatta but Sly/Dwyer's cool demeanour under pressure served them well.
Jess Hansen and new crew Liam Hilton kept popping upat tjhe front of the fleet to flag their intentions for the coming season and also took out the longest boat name award sailing "Does my bum look big in this?".
Socially the regatta was a lot of fun with most competitors staying onsite at the motel and, despite the vocal nature of the starts, there was a very friendly atmosphere in the boat park. Martin Sly, National President of the 29er Assn., took the opportunity to chair the AGM and there was a healthy attendance with many people putting their hands up to fill the required roles. There is definitely a sense that the organisation is in enthusiastic hands for the coming 2010/11 season.
Results here.
Photos here.....please excuse my very amateur photographic effort!!
James Ellis President NSW & ACT 29er Assn
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National Champs take out top Victorian Youth Award |
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National Champs James Sly and Andrew Gillies were crowned Victorian Youth Sailors of the Year at last weeks Yachting Victoria Awards night. This now gives James and Andrew back to back Victorian Youth sailor awards to go with their back to back National Champs. Well done James and Andrew you are both great ambassadors for our class and should be proud of your acheivements. |
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