The Yachtsman 2017-2018 The Yachtsman 2017-2018 | Page 29

CENTREBOARD
CENTREBOARD
OPTIMIST OPEN GOLD CLASS
C

Latest National
Champion, Fletcher
Walters, Optimist Open
Gold Class
1st and 2nd to RPAYC
Youth Opti Sailors!
Open Fleet Overall
Winners and Australian
Championship
1. Fletcher Walters (NSW)
2. Daniel Links (NSW)
3. Quinn Auricht (SA)
Report and photo credit
from Opti Australia.
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YA C H T S M A N R PAY C
ongratulations to RPAYC’s
Open Fleet Optimist Sailors
- 2018 Australian Optimist
Champion - Fletcher Walters
and in 2nd place, Daniel Links.
The 2018 Gill OptiAUS Championships
hosted at Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron
have concluded with 261 sailors competing
over three fleets and five days of racing.
There were plenty of smiling faces and
friendships being made across the boat park
and close racing on the water.
Intermediate Fleet
The Intermediate Fleet had 75 entries
with close racing across the five days. With
all sailors in one start the start line congestion
looked at times like coordinated chaos but
with a minute to go all sailors would find their
spot and the close racing would commence.
The standout leader in the Intermediate Fleet
was Reece Hartnett from NSW with all other
positions involving tight competition.
Congratulations to our Intermediate
Fleet Podium: 1st Reece Hartnett (NSW),
2nd William Troop (NSW), Cameron Scade
(NSW). 1st Female: Anneke Meyer (NSW).
Open Fleet
The Open Fleet had 135 competitors
resulting in the fleet being divided into two
divisions for both the qualifying and finals.
The quality of the Open Fleet racing was
outstanding throughout the five days of the
regatta with close and exciting racing at the
front of the fleet. A great display of consistency
for Fletcher Walters, Daniel Links and Quinn
Auricht to stay in the top three positions for
the entire regatta. The final podium positions
came down to the last race and last couple
of meters with Daniel Links winning both
races on final day, Fletcher Walters was able
to secure second place in the final race of the
regatta allowing him to win the 2018 Gill
OptiAUS Championships by one point.
ACT OPTIMIST
CHAMPIONSHIPS
T
he Canberra Optimist Regatta is
one of the most popular regatta’s
of the year for both the sailors
and the parents. Racing is held
from the Canberra Yacht Club in
the Nation’s Capital on the waters of Lake
Burley Griffin. Team RPAYC had nine Open
Optis and nine Intermediate Optis attend
the regatta, which again made RPAYC the
most attended Club. The majority of the
RPA families all stayed together in Kingston
at some serviced apartments and enjoyed
plenty of social activity after racing on the
Saturday evening.
Saturday was clear and sunny and the
afternoon had a NNW wind forecast of 10
– 12 knots predicted. The forecast proved to
be correct and racing got underway on time
and four races were run in the afternoon. The
top mark proved very tricky for some with the
mark being laid close to an island and very
large wind shifts occurring near the mark. In
the first Intermediate race of the day, Markus
Sampson from RPA had a huge lead at the
first bottom mark and rounded the bottom
mark to starboard instead of port. Just about
every Intermediate boat followed the same
way until the first Open boat had started
lapping and went the right way. To avoid the
confusion and congestion at the bottom mark,
the next day the race committee added a gate
as the bottom rounding marks.

Whilst the racing is on, this regatta does
not require ribs to be taken to the event as
racing is held right in front of the Club.
Parents are able to enjoy the afternoon sitting
in a camping chair, watching the racing
through binoculars, eating fresh fish and
chips, and sipping on the odd beer or wine. 2017 ACT Optimist
Sunday the forecast was for stronger winds
and the wind had shifted more to the west and
was much stronger with gusts to 20 knots and
the lulls well under 10 knots. Again racing
got underway on time and another four races
were held in gusty conditions, however this
was the most consistent any of us had seen
the wind in Canberra for the last 3-4 years we
have all been attending this regatta. Racing
was completed around 3:30pm allowing
time to pack up, attend the presentation and
leave Canberra around 4:30pm for the easy
drive home. were:
For any new Green Fleet sailors looking
to take on their first regatta, the Canberra
regatta is definitely one to consider, easy
going and the racing very close to shore. It
is also a very social regatta with other team
members from RPAYC and always great fun.
The regatta is held late October each year.
Championships and
Travellers Trophy 3
The results for RPAYC
Open Fleet (41 entrants)
• 1st Daniel Links
• 6th Jono Tuite
• 11th Olivia Williams
(2nd Girl Overall)
• 14th Cooper
Bellingham
• 15th Eva Attwood (3rd
Girl Overall)
• 18th Bayley Taylor
• 21st Ellis Merrett
• 27th Sienna Brown
• 30th Oscar Verity
Intermediate Fleet
(38 entrants)
• 3rd Albie Brown
• 4th Markus Sampson
• 7th Will Troop
• 12th Orlando Springer
• 15th Wally Tuite
• 17th Kye Williams
• 23rd Nathan Pearce
• 32nd Piper Attwood
• 36th Julia Pearce
R PAY C YA C H T S M A N
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