Team BYC is proud to have been selected to participate in such a prestigious event as the Musto International Youth Match Racing Regatta, which was hosted by the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia, held November 25 through November 29. The Musto International Match Racing Regatta was sailed in Elliot 7 meters. The racecourse was located in Rushcutters Bay inside Sydney Harbor. Balboa Yacht Club was able to put together a team consisting of Christophe Killian as skipper, Harrison Vandervort as main trim and tactics, Jack Martin as bow, Megan Roach as pit, and myself as jib trim and controls. With consistent average wind speed of fifteen to twenty knots, usually cloudy conditions and a bit of rain, the regatta began.
On Monday we had a practice day in thirty knots of wind. What a surprise that was for us. Although we were not able to practice our boat handling as much as we had wanted, we had a lot of fun in the breeze since we don’t get much of it back home. The regatta started off on Tuesday with a nice opening ceremony and a full round robin of races. We completed the first day with a respectable score of four wins and five losses. As the regatta progressed we began to get our boat handling under control and eventually made it into the semi-finals. During the selection process we expected the worst, but instead of choosing us, Chris Steele (1st place finisher) chose the 4th place boat. This was an amazing opportunity, of which we were able to take advantage. We beat the 3rd place team in the semi finals, thus placing us into the finals against Chris Steele. The final day of racing started off with around ten knots of wind but progressed upwards to around twenty-two knots by the end of the day. It was pouring rain as we crossed the finish line during the last race. We gave it our best effort, but we were unable to beat Chris Steele who remained undefeated throughout the regatta.
Overall we are very proud of our 2nd place finish against such experienced sailors, and would gladly take an opportunity to sail in a regatta like this again. We thank the BYC-MSSF foundation for their support, as well as, individual member’s financial contributions, including Andy Rose, whose support and guidance of our match racing endeavors truly make a difference. Together, they made this regatta possible!
Thanks very much,
Andrew Luttrell