Will Dargaville Crowned the New King of the Round Robin and Top Four Semi-Finalist Confirmed

After 50 plus races during day three of the HARKEN International Match Racing Championship, The Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club’s Will Dargaville is the winner of the round robins.

With the weather being much cooler than the fan forced 39 degrees on day two, Race Management took full advantage of the 15 – 20 knot southerly to squeeze in as many flights as possible after postponing the racing the day before due to the heat.

For Will, there was no time for bird watching, he and his team of Harry Hall, Sarah Parker, James Farquharson and Rachael bower were switched on to achieve 13 wins and 2 losses with a close win to last year’s runner up, Harry Price in final of the afternoon’s races to seal the overall win.

“It feels great. We could have been doing a bit of bird watching but I think sailing was the better option but I think with today’s conditions sailing on our home waters really helped us in picking the right shifts.”

One of Will’s losses was to fellow club teammate, Clare Costanzo, Clare managed to stay in the boat today to cause a few upsets.

“It was pretty good today, pretty satisfying. We race him (Will) all the time and it was great to beat him, we had a very even race until the last downwind leg where we just got the win.” Said a very happy Clare. 

Last year’s winners, Milly Bennett and her MAXX Team weren’t strong enough to progress to the top four semi finals finishing 9^th.

“It’s pretty devastating, we had too many little errors that cost us, it’s good that we (RPAYC) have a team in the finals though.” Said Milly.

With a few changes to the to the race schedule due to the number of teams and time restrictions, Race Management decided to not race the quarter finals and head right into the semi finals. The semi finalists are as follows and the winner will be determined from these top four.

1^st Will Dargaville - The Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club

2^nd Harry Price - Cruising Yacht Club Australia

3^rd George Anyon - Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron

4^th Lachy Gilmour - Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club

There will be a 5^th v 8^th races to determine the final top 8 placings and they are as follows:

5^th Matthew Kempkers - Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron

6^th James Hodgson - Sunshine Coast Sailing Team

7^th Lucas Chatonnier - Cercle Nautique Caledonien (New Caledonia)

8^th William Eastman – Royal Port Nicholson Yacht Club (NZ)

As for the bottom 8 teams their racing is now over. HARKEN International veteran, Jayden Stevens, sailing in his record 8^th Championship from the Canberra Yacht Club team aren’t heading to the finals but still enjoyed their racing.

“As my old man used to say during my previous 7 championships, you get a lot of seconds in match racing, that said we all had good time learning and having fun.” Said Jayden

“It was the first time some of us jumped on yachts so it’s pretty big stuff coming from little Canberra.” Jayden added.

The bottom 8 are as follows:

9^th Milly Bennett The Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club

10^th Lauren Gallaway – Cruising Yacht Club Australia

11^th Clare Costanzo – The Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club

12^th Zac Pullen – The Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania

13^th Will Boulden -  Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club

14^th Zoe Bennett – Royal Port Nicholson Yacht Club (NZ)

15^th Nick Rozenauers – Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron

16^th Eliot Bassili – Canberra Yacht Club

To see the full results visit: www.intyouthmatchracingchampionship.com.au/results/live-results

Keep up with all the action during the finals visit:

http://www.matchracingresults.com/2015/harken-international-youth-championships/

Twitter: twitter.com.au/RPAYCYouthMatch

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HarkenIntlYouthMatchRacing/

Instagram: instagram.com/RPAYC

Website: http://www.intyouthmatchracingchampionship.com.au/

The 2015 HARKEN International Youth Match Racing Championships marks the 17th consecutive year with HARKEN Australia as naming rights sponsor. Their ongoing commitment to the development of youth match racing is a credit to this leading manufacturer and marketer of quality sailboat hardware and accessories. Visit the Harken website at www.harken.com.au

About the Regatta

The 23rd annual HARKEN International Youth Match Racing Championships, hosted by The Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club welcomes the continuing support of HARKEN Australia as its naming rights sponsor.

This year, the RPAYC will be showcasing its fleet of Elliot 7s for this premier event held on the magnificent waters of Pittwater.

Teams compete for the Rockin' Robin Perpetual Trophy on the RPAYC's Elliot 7 performance keelboats with a crew of four or five, all of who must be under 23 years of age.

By Stephen Collopy

Marketing Coordinator The Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club

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