YOUTH DEVELOPMENT
HARKEN
YOUTH MATCH RACING REGATTA
RPAYC dominated the podium with a 2nd and 3rd Place at the 2016 Harken Youth Match Racing Regatta
This year saw a strong international and local contingent battle it out on the water for the prestigious Rockin Robin trophy . Teams from the USA , The Netherlands , New Zealand , along with interstate teams from Perth and Darwin battled it out on the idyllic waters of Pittwater .
In the end , Will Boulden and his Alpha Racing Team from Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club in Perth emerged victorious winning the 2016 Harken International Youth Match Racing Championships after four days of racing at the Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club ( RPAYC ). The team of Mark Wong , Alex Negri and James Farquharson ( YD Graduate ) faced off against local sailor Malcolm Parker and his team from the RPAYC in some of the closest match racing that we have seen at the Harken !
Boulden thanked the Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club and Harken for putting on the event . He is ranked 46th in the ISAF Open Rankings and is just 20 years of age , making him one of Australia ’ s rising youth match racers to watch in the future .
The finals racing was close with both Malcolm Parker ( RPAYC ) and Boulden fighting hard for the championship title and $ 1,000 prize money for first place . In Race 1 , Parker put the heat on Boulden shutting him out above the boat lay-line before Boulden made a sneaky come back over the start boat to win the favoured pin end of the line and win the race .
The heat was on in the second race , with both teams pushing early to the start line and Boulden winning the pin end . Despite Boulden rounding the first bottom mark in the lead , Malcolm went on to take the left side of the course on the next upwind and snuck ahead to win the second race .
The pressure stayed on in Race 3 with a split tack start and Boulden carrying a penalty . The boats duelled bow to bow on the upwind with Malcolm rounding first but Boulden being able to complete his penalty on the upwind . Race 3 to Boulden after a close downwind and clean boat handling .
This took the racing to a match point where Parker started evenly with a penalty off the line . The teams stayed close on the upwind , Parker rounding just ahead of Boulden at the top mark and then completing his
62 YACHTSMAN