Last weekend eight members of our BYS Youth Squad travelled to Newcastle to compete in the Sailing Champions League Asia Pacific Finals.
The regatta was contested by 15 teams from clubs all around Australia, racing in a short course fleet racing format. BYS was lucky enough to send two teams after a great performance in the qualifying event in Geelong at the end of January. Our Open team was made up of Ethan O’Brien, Daisy Laing, Hayden Harding and Harriette Singh, and our Under 22 team was Ed Warner, Philippa Danks, Hamish Bolton and Sam Batty.
The first day of racing on Saturday morning was slightly delayed due to a lack of wind on the Hunter River, but soon the wind came in and both teams were able to race. These qualifying races allowed each team to get a feel for the conditions, and learn about the wind shifts and currents that were quite different from our waters in Blairgowrie!
Sunday again brought challenging conditions with light winds and strong tides, but that didn’t dishearten the BYS teams. As the wind came in, the Open team finished off the qualifying series with two back to back wins!
Unfortunately, neither of our teams made the top 4 to compete in the finals series on Sunday afternoon, with the Open team just missing out by placing 5th overall, and the Under 22 team placing 12th overall. A big congratulations to our neighbours Mornington Yacht Club who placed 1st in both the Under 22 and Open finals.
The BYS Youth Squad would like to thank BYS for their continuing support this season, without which we would not have been able to compete in this regatta. We have been lucky enough to train and race in the club J70s throughout the season and this gave us a great experience and an edge over our competitors. We would also like to thank everyone who participated in our trivia night and raffle over the long weekend. The support of BYS members is essential for us to keep growing the number of youth sailors who are engaged in sailing at BYS.
To read more about the Sailing Champions League and see more photos from the weekend, please visit their website (https://sailing-championsleague.asia/competition/season-2022/2022-final-openu22/) or Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/SCLAsiaPacific).
