Local skipper, Matt Jerwood, is top of the scoreboard after the first day of the Warren Jones International Youth Regatta, he and his Redline Racing Team are the only undefeated crew.
He was lucky to miss the very light and unreliable winds of the first two flights of the day, only getting onto the race course when the seabreeze had kicked in.
These difficult conditions at the beginning of the day were the undoing of both Sam Gilmour and Chris Steele, who lost early matches. Sam Gilmour, who finished second in this event last year, lost his first and last races of the day, while Chris Steele, last year’s winner, lost his first two matches, before the seabreeze came and rescued him.
Whilst Sam Gilmour holds onto second place on the scoreboard, three skippers are tied for third, with Steele sharing this position with Denmark’s Joachim Aschenbrenner and Jordan Reece from Sydney’s Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club.
Once the legendary Fremantle Doctor seabreeze settled in at 18 to 20 knots the racing became fast and furious, with plenty of incidents to keep the umpires and the repair teams busy.
The match of the day came in the sixth flight when Matt Jerwood grabbed victory over Murray Jones in the last few boats lengths of the race, when he managed to neutralize an outstanding penalty by forcing Jones into an infringement.
Another close race came when the two Gilmour brothers faced each other, in a fantastic display of sibling rivalry. The two boats went around the course as if attached by a piece of bungy, before the older Sam Gilmour grabbed the win from Lachy in the dying moments of the race.
The regatta, is in memory of Warren Jones, who was the mastermind behind Australia II’s historic victory in the America’s Cup way back in 1983, before any of these skippers were born.
The event is organised by Swan River Sailing, and is sailed in their fleet of Foundation 36 yachts, and runs until Friday 5th February.
Results:
1. Matt Jerwood AUS 6 – 0
2. Sam Gilmour AUS 5 – 2
3= Joachim Aschenbrenner DEN 4 – 2
3= Jordan Reece AUS 4 – 2
3= Chris Steele NZL 4 – 2
6 Murray Jones AUS 3 – 3
7= Lachy Gilmour AUS 2 – 4
7= Will Boulden AUS 2 – 4
9= Mark Spearman AUS 1 – 6
9= Ethan Prieto-Low AUS 1 – 7
– John Roberson
