Sailing News
RPAYC Win Sportsmanship Trophy at the Govenor’s Cup
Given the results of the round robins it
was a make or break day in the fourth
day of racing. Looking at the scores
we worked out that we needed to win
all of our races to reach the top four.
Unfortunately for us it was the opposite,
with four tough races on the trot. Three
of those four races were against past
winners of this event.
Our first race was against Japan, we
had a great start with a four length
lead, and a penalty on the opposition.
Midway up the course we separated
right from the Takahashi and let him go
left. Unfortunately there was a 20 degree
left hand shift, giving away what was a
comfortable lead.
We had a tough battle against world
number four Sam Gilmour, who simply
out sailed us in a faultless performance.
For our last two races against the
other top four ranked teams, we were
incredibly slow. It completely baffled
me as coach as I though their sail trim
was pretty good, as well as their boat
handling. After they crossed the line after
losing by nearly a leg to the Nevin Snow
(USA) I decide to jump into the water as
they sailed by the spectator boat. To my
horror as I swam under the boat, I pulled
off approximately 3.5metres of kelp from
around the keel and rudder!
Whilst we weren’t having a great day,
some teams did and unfortunately after
missing the semis, we found ourselves
tied with some other teams for the 5th
6th sail off. Unfortunately the tie didn’t
go our way, so we sailed in the 7/8 sail
off against last year’s finalist Lachlan
Gilmour.
We were cheered up at the yacht club
with a party put on for the teams. The
club put on a special dinner where they
did a special customary dish for each
visiting nation. For the Australians it was
the good old “Dog’s eye” (Pie), which was
a clear favourite.
At the presentation, RPAYC were awarded
the Gov Cup Sportsmanship Trophy
which is a good reflection of the team
and how we performed. They gave it
their all and had a great time doing so!
Tom Spithill