Kiwis Lead the Harken Women’s International Match Racing Regatta

New Zealander Danielle Bowater and her crew of Bianca Cook, Hannah Osborne and Katie de Lange lead the Harken Women’s International Match Racing Regatta by one point after day one. Representing the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron, Bowater finished the day with 5 wins and one loss.

Bowater’s only loss was to fellow New Zealander Anita Trudgen, but her toughest match was against Amanda Scrivenor. “We carried a penalty throughout the match that we received in the prestart,” Bowater said.

The margin between the two remained close on the downwind leg, with Bowater rounding ahead of Scrivenor still carrying a penalty. Bowater cleared her penalty heading upwind and Scrivenor managed to take a narrow lead. Spinnaker wineglasses at the top mark for both competitors brought the two together, but it was Bowater who recovered better to take the lead and win the match.

“It was a great day on water in a consistent westerly breeze with some very close competition. I’m pleased to be on top after the first day and I’m working with the same crew that competed in this regatta last year who I’ve been sailing with over the last twelve months. We placed second at the NZ Olympic trials last month and fifth in the Nationals and I think it showed in our performance today,” Bowater added.

Katie Abbott (CYCA) and Stephanie Doyle (RPAYC) both finished the day on four points each with four match wins and two losses.

Abbott and her crew of Tara McCall, Angela Farrell and Sophie Lahey have come together for this regatta and put in a solid first day’s performance. “This is the first time our crew has been together racing competitively and whilst we put in a strong performance, I’d like to build on it tomorrow and sail much cleaner,” Abbott said. Abbott received two prestart penalties and one OCS in her matches today but still managed to win two of those matches.

“Consistency is the name of the game,” said Stephanie Doyle. “Our crew is a relatively new but I’m pretty happy with their performance today. Tomorrow our aim is to minimise the mistakes.”

In the relatively consistent westerly breeze of 5-10 knots, Race Officer Denis Thompson was able to push through round robin one and one flight of round robin two, before the breeze on Sydney Harbour became too unstable for match racing. At this morning’s briefing, competitors were advised that the Race Committee planned to amend the sailing instructions to increase from two to three round robins to be conducted over the first two days of the regatta, with the semi-finals and finals being sailed on Friday 25 March.

Racing will commence at 1015hrs tomorrow and be conducted in the vicinity of Rushcutters Bay, with the Bureau of Meteorology predicting west to north westerly of 5 to 10 knots, increasing to 10-15 knots during the morning and then 10-20 knots during the afternoon. Live results will be available on www.cyca.com.au from the commencement of the round robins.

For Round robin results click on one of the following links:
Round Robin 1
Round Robin 2

Standing at the conclusion of Round Robin One and Flight One of Round Robin Two:
1st - Danielle Bowater (RNZYS) 5 wins, 1 loss
2nd - Katie Abbott (CYCA) 4 wins, 2 losses
Stephanie Doyle (RPAYC) 4 wins, 2 losses
4th – Amanda Scrivenor (CYCA) 3 -3
5th – Kat Stroinovsky (RSYS) 1-5
Anita Trudgen (RPNYC) 1-5

Teams competing:
Amanda Scrivenor, Breanna Hoppe, Shahhzrad Vahebzadeh, Angelique Kear (CYCA - AUS) (ISAF Ranking - 49)
Danielle Bowater, Bianca Cook, Hannah Osborne, Katie de Lange (RNZYS - NZL) (68)
Katie Abbott, Tara McCall, Sophie Lahey, Angela Farrell (CYCA - CAN/AUS) (116)
Anita Trudgeon, Janey Geodhart, Hannah Scott-Mackie, Heather Trudgeon (RPNYC - NZL) (171)
Stephanie Doyle, Elyce McClelland, Georgina Johnstone, Gemma Rasdall (RPAYC - AUS) (249)
Kathleen Stroinovsky, Antonio Watson, Kate Brown (RSYS - AUS) (N/R)

The event will conclude on Friday 25 March when the finals will be conducted. Live results will be available on www.cyca.com.au from the commencement of the round robins.

To follow the event visit the event website: www.cyca.com.au

By Jennifer Crooks for the CYCA (www.cyca.com.au)