The Oceanbridge Sail Auckland Regatta is a real highlight, and high stakes regatta (especially in Olympic years) in the summer sailing calendar. RAYC had a phenomenal attendance at the regatta with over 20 sailors competing across a range of fleets and with some top results. There was a bit of everything conditions-wise with very light variable conditions on Saturday and strong 20 – 30 knot south westerly’s on Sunday, making for a very challenging regatta. As always Torbay Sailing Club did a fantastic job of hosting despite the difficulties posed by the conditions.
The 29er contingent has been steadily building at RAYC in recent months with six boats now training regularly during the week. Eleven RAYC sailors raced in the 17-strong fleet, and we were so proud to have three RAYC boats finish in the top 10 and two on the podium. Congratulations to RAYC sailor Morgan Lay and his crew Tom Pilkington (WBC) on their outstandingly consistent performance, finishing seven out of eight races in the top three to finish second overall. This was Morgan and Tom’s first regatta together and a great indication of what is to come . Well done! Kate and Madi also sailed extremely well claiming first girls and fifth overall. The pair even secured a second place on their scorecard and are looking good going into the 2024 Youth Trials. Leo Brown and his crew Toby Dunn (WBC) finished in eighth place and really excelled on day two in the stronger breeze.
Eli Liefting who had just returned from competing in the World Champs in Spain only four days prior, put on quite a show in the IQFoil 9m Fleet. Eli started off the regatta strong with a race win and continued to dominate in the lighter airs foiling into the lead equal on points with teammate Josh Armit after day one. An unfortunate crash which resulted in some foil damage bumped Eli back to third place but it was still a great regatta and we look forward to watching Eli at the IQFoil Nationals in a weeks time.
Lizzie Shapland and Jack Simpson secured themselves a third place despite not racing the final three races of the regatta. Lizzie and Jack have been training hard in recent weeks and also showed a lot of potential at the 49erFX Nationals the weekend prior. We look forward to seeing them excel in the remainder of the season.
The rest of the RAYC team all sailed extremely well in very tough conditions. The contrast of conditions at both ends of the wind limits made for a lot of great learning that our sailors will be able to call on going forward. A massive thank you to all of the parents and coaches who attended the regatta and helped out both on and off the water. Thank you to Torbay and YNZ for hosting another great OceanBridge.
