Last week the club hosted the Australian National Championships for the 29er class and the Nacra 15 class. Whilst neither of the classes are currently sailed at BYS, they are both exciting high performance youth classes and rapidly gaining in popularity across the country. Teams came from across Australia, as well as Singapore, Hong Kong, New Caledonia and Hawaii. These yachts are both classified as Youth classes, so our competitors ranged from about 13 to 18 years and demonstrated some exceptional sailing skills. There was a lot riding on this regatta for some of the crews, as a win here would see them booking a ticket to Brazil for the Youth Worlds later in the year. Competition on the water was hot, with the leader board changing with each race, and the final outcome coming down to the last session and a protest room decision.
The weather, as most of you will have experienced was problematic to say the least. Day one blown out with 37 knots, Day two, nothing in the morning and we squeezed in 2 races late in the day. Day three, brought the smoke and a range of issues we have not previously encountered with very low visibility and planning around people with breathing difficulties. Day 4, some relief at last and two sessions, completing the qualifying in the morning and then jumping into Gold and Silver fleets for the finals in the afternoon session. Day 5 was perfect Blairgowrie weather with a good Southerly breeze and great racing. We trialed the new Sailor App for this regatta, with great success. Communications and getting the results out direct to your phone worked really well.
A very big thank you to all of the volunteers, parents and BYS staff who made this yet another successful regatta, adding to our reputation for excellence in hosting high profile regattas.
Thank you also to our members for your understanding and cooperation as we juggled the lawn space and food services, during the event.
