The Alfred's News Alfreds News December-January 2017-2018 | Page 14

Youth News
Female Youth Team take on the best Match
Racers in the World at the Busan Match Cup 2017
RPAYC Youth Development team of Clare Costanzo, Jess Angus, Hannah Lanz and Ruby Scholten along with RPAYC Youth
Development Graduate Lauren Crossman travelled to Busan in South Korea for the Busan Match Cup, Grade 1 Match
Race. This event is one of the Women’s International Match (WIM) racing circuit events and is the first and only all-
female professional circuits internationally. The racing was conducted in K30 yachts, these boats are 30ft and very
different to the Elliot 7 we are used to as they are much more demanding and physically exhausting with larger working
loads.
The racing was conducted in the waters off Haeundae Beach with varying wind strengths from less than 5 knots all the
way up to 25 knots, strong tides and 100 degree shifts coming down off the surrounding mountains and buildings. The
shifting wind made for extremely interesting snakes and ladders racing where anything could happen at times if you let
your guard down. There was a single round robin where we raced against the best female match racers in the world,
including ex match racing Olympians. We finished the round robin in 9 th place and there were no sail offs so we finished
the regatta overall in 9 th . It was an amazing opportunity to race against the high calibre of women sailors and learn
about the specifics of match racing in larger boats and the processes and communication involved. The lessons we
learnt from this regatta about long term strategy and tactics proved to be a game changer at the Musto Regatta 1 week
after Busan where we managed to always stay ahead of the game and processes were smooth and efficient, finishing
the round robin off in 2 nd place.
We would like to thank the Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club for their support for this event and their ongoing support of
Youth Development and Tom and Katie Spithill for their coaching and helpful tips over the years. Our team would also
like to thank Mark Tinworth, Mark Waterhouse and Nancy and Bruce Ferguson for their support and continual
engagement in youth sailing. Lastly we would like to thank Murray Walters for the use of his boat to have a training
session on in the lead up to the regatta.
It is only possible to attend events like the respected WIM and Busan Match Cup with the ongoing support of the yacht
club and invested interest in growing and developing youth sailing. We are looking to the extremely busy 2018 schedule
and carrying forward all the lessons learnt and momentum from the 2017 season.