The 8th World University Sailing Championships in Perth WA
I've been granted accreditation to accompany the racing over the week of championship sailing at the Royal Perth Yacht Club. I first heard of it during a Warren Jones regatta a couple of years back when the University of WA's sports department volunteered to drive the media rib and I met representatives from the Sports department who were sussing out the Foundation 36's and how they performed. Gladly to say I was able to engineer a break from work to photograph this regatta and I look forward to watching some great sailing from both the guys ( on the 36's ) and the ladies sailing the Bakewell 8's. I think that the ladies have got the best of it as the B 8's are frisky in a good breeze, but time will tell I'm sure.
This page is set up to record the entire week and will operate on the principle of the latest reports and photo's being on top. Please don't expect photo's up every night as the time to process and put up is enormous. They'll be up in the morning for sure.
This page is set up to record the entire week and will operate on the principle of the latest reports and photo's being on top. Please don't expect photo's up every night as the time to process and put up is enormous. They'll be up in the morning for sure.
The first of two videos from video taken on Wednesday from the start boat.
First .... The Women's Sailing
First .... The Women's Sailing
And the Open racing ...again from the start boat
Friday the 30th of September
The fifth and final day
A day of Spinnakers and other things.
It's taken me a day or so to get the other commitments out of the way. And its time to reflect on the semis and the finals.
The day was wet with gusts of rain coming through and soaking all and sundry. The breeze was out of the nor west turning into the west as the day progressed and it was building as the morning went into the afternoon.
I'm working with the other screen showing me images from the day and it was clear that the open racing was going to be a home battle with WA vs the New South Welshmen for the finals and the Italian team up against the British in the petit finals.
There were no qualms about the options available either and no team wanted to allow the other through. In the petit finals the Italians took the game from the Brits in two races in an increasing breeze and retired from the scene with their honour intact. In the Women's racing the French took the Singaporeans to task and took third for their work.
However in the finals of the Opens, we were expecting fireworks when Boulden met up with Dargaville, but an unfortunate spinnaker drop by Boulden's boat in the first race upset the flow that had been working so well for him and Dargaville took the next two races to sweep home with the win.
In the women's racing, it was a different battle with Sara Parker up against Swiss Alexa Bezel and the fight went down to the wire with a really tight finish in the third race. In the 5th race we were dealing with all square and the Swiss in fine form at the top of the final rounding. It was going to be a sleigh ride home with the gusts swirling around the boats and kites could make or break you.
The Aussies again tied their spinnaker into knots and only a surprise Chinese gybe by the Swiss gave Aussie Sara Parker a chance to stay in the race. Damned hard to control the spinnaker and the Aussies were simply sailing under a main and jib with a clean run to the finish line in front of them. But they were just leading. So Alexa through up her second kite of the run and looked the goods : speed and balance. Unfortunately, the gusts again came into play and over went the boat again in the second Chinese gybe of the race. And this one was a ripper, no chance of a swift recovery and Sara and her crew watched as the finish line loomed into sight. Over the line and group hugs were the order of the day.
A quick dash to the docks and change lens for the closing ceremony.
Many thanks to Andy Fethers, Carolyne Bush and all at Swan River Sailing, The Royal Perth Yacht Club and the volunteers from the club, their sister club Royal Freshwater Yacht club and of course the FISU volunteers who worked hard to manage the ceremonial aspects of the event.
It was great to be able to photograph the racing and watch how the young sailors are progressing. Hope to be there for the next event.
It's taken me a day or so to get the other commitments out of the way. And its time to reflect on the semis and the finals.
The day was wet with gusts of rain coming through and soaking all and sundry. The breeze was out of the nor west turning into the west as the day progressed and it was building as the morning went into the afternoon.
I'm working with the other screen showing me images from the day and it was clear that the open racing was going to be a home battle with WA vs the New South Welshmen for the finals and the Italian team up against the British in the petit finals.
There were no qualms about the options available either and no team wanted to allow the other through. In the petit finals the Italians took the game from the Brits in two races in an increasing breeze and retired from the scene with their honour intact. In the Women's racing the French took the Singaporeans to task and took third for their work.
However in the finals of the Opens, we were expecting fireworks when Boulden met up with Dargaville, but an unfortunate spinnaker drop by Boulden's boat in the first race upset the flow that had been working so well for him and Dargaville took the next two races to sweep home with the win.
In the women's racing, it was a different battle with Sara Parker up against Swiss Alexa Bezel and the fight went down to the wire with a really tight finish in the third race. In the 5th race we were dealing with all square and the Swiss in fine form at the top of the final rounding. It was going to be a sleigh ride home with the gusts swirling around the boats and kites could make or break you.
The Aussies again tied their spinnaker into knots and only a surprise Chinese gybe by the Swiss gave Aussie Sara Parker a chance to stay in the race. Damned hard to control the spinnaker and the Aussies were simply sailing under a main and jib with a clean run to the finish line in front of them. But they were just leading. So Alexa through up her second kite of the run and looked the goods : speed and balance. Unfortunately, the gusts again came into play and over went the boat again in the second Chinese gybe of the race. And this one was a ripper, no chance of a swift recovery and Sara and her crew watched as the finish line loomed into sight. Over the line and group hugs were the order of the day.
A quick dash to the docks and change lens for the closing ceremony.
Many thanks to Andy Fethers, Carolyne Bush and all at Swan River Sailing, The Royal Perth Yacht Club and the volunteers from the club, their sister club Royal Freshwater Yacht club and of course the FISU volunteers who worked hard to manage the ceremonial aspects of the event.
It was great to be able to photograph the racing and watch how the young sailors are progressing. Hope to be there for the next event.
Thursday the 29th of September
The fourth day
Sometimes you have a magic day, well this was it. We were over hump day and with that behind us and a warm sunny day to boot, the semis got underway in a east nor easterly that changed into a west sou westerly after a decent lunch break. Most of the sailing was done under 10 knots.
Team building is important and the Aussies really showed how to do it as they built a towering pyramid of sailors during lunch time. Using the three Aussie teams they reached for the sky and as it appeared by the end of the day all the teams have worked their way into the finals. Three ticks for the ladies caught in a quiet boogie onboard their Bakewell 8 as we came in for the break between breezes.
Up against some stiff competition, Sara Parker came from behind in a screaming reach across the water under a bubbling kite that managed to hold up against the breeze to defeat Koh of Singapore who had her tucked away behind her on the run down to the final mark. Only smart work by Parker in taking her up gave the Aussie a chance to gybe and cross to the finish line under that same bubbling kite. Great stuff. The clinical finish to Bezel of Switzerland's sail underscores the ability of the lady and with Sam Gilmour in the hot seat as the local knowledge source, she is going to be the one to beat to take the World title of the women's class.
As for the open teams, well the sort out gave us two Aussie teams for the final , but not before the top Aussie team wiped the floor with the Brits in a mini Ashes engagement. Galati of Italy was perhaps unfortunate that he didn't replicate the sailing he has been showing over the four days but New South Welshman Will Dargaville took the wins in two races, effectively closing the door on the Italian.
So we have a Sheffield Shield engagement ( to carry the simile ) and despite the fact that there are two foreigners on Will Boulden's boat, they have been granted temporary citizenship to continue sailing. As for the petit finals Britons have always enjoyed a good Italian meal and may dine out on the Italians tomorrow.
Thanks to the other teams on the water over the regatta. I've enjoyed the chance to photograph you.
Enjoy the images
Team building is important and the Aussies really showed how to do it as they built a towering pyramid of sailors during lunch time. Using the three Aussie teams they reached for the sky and as it appeared by the end of the day all the teams have worked their way into the finals. Three ticks for the ladies caught in a quiet boogie onboard their Bakewell 8 as we came in for the break between breezes.
Up against some stiff competition, Sara Parker came from behind in a screaming reach across the water under a bubbling kite that managed to hold up against the breeze to defeat Koh of Singapore who had her tucked away behind her on the run down to the final mark. Only smart work by Parker in taking her up gave the Aussie a chance to gybe and cross to the finish line under that same bubbling kite. Great stuff. The clinical finish to Bezel of Switzerland's sail underscores the ability of the lady and with Sam Gilmour in the hot seat as the local knowledge source, she is going to be the one to beat to take the World title of the women's class.
As for the open teams, well the sort out gave us two Aussie teams for the final , but not before the top Aussie team wiped the floor with the Brits in a mini Ashes engagement. Galati of Italy was perhaps unfortunate that he didn't replicate the sailing he has been showing over the four days but New South Welshman Will Dargaville took the wins in two races, effectively closing the door on the Italian.
So we have a Sheffield Shield engagement ( to carry the simile ) and despite the fact that there are two foreigners on Will Boulden's boat, they have been granted temporary citizenship to continue sailing. As for the petit finals Britons have always enjoyed a good Italian meal and may dine out on the Italians tomorrow.
Thanks to the other teams on the water over the regatta. I've enjoyed the chance to photograph you.
Enjoy the images
Wednesday the 28th of September
The third day
The first thing to think of is that Tuesday was a monster and was not a good day to be on the water. No damage to sailors or boats fortunately, but the important thing was that they managed to get a few flights in on the day. Lots of wet umpires, sailors and volunteers.
The third day dawned with a good breeze out of the south that bent into the south west as the day progressed. Didn't get below 10 knots and pumped up to 21 knots on occasions during the racing, though on the whole it moderated as the day progressed. The weather has been good, though bitterly cold and everyone is rugged up to the max despite the sun shining on the course on occasions. Only one sailor has remained unscathed so far and Will Boulden has carried all before him to this time. Close behind him is Galati of Italy and Dargaville of NSW ( Australia ) is third. Amongst the women the leader is Bezel of Switzerland followed by Koh of Singapore and Carter of Australia.
In regard to the days racing there were one or two notable moments and one would have to rank high as a good effort when late in the day, "Fighting Yamada' of Japan put one over Galati of Italy and forced him to gybe while carrying a kite. Nice one. Ended up wrapping it around the forestay. Yamada then proceeded to clear a penalty that he was carrying from a prior incident and while he was doing it Galati managed to clear the wrapped spinnaker and chase the unlucky Yamada down. Passing him, Galati stole a win back from Yamada and I can only feel that if Yamada had been quicker on the penalty clearance the race would have been his. Otherwise the pre race was a good spot to give your opponent a penalty that they'd have to carry, and that went for the women's as well as the open categories. The round robins were completed today and we go on to the semis tomorrow.
However the racing starts in earnest tomorrow and the gloves are off as only the best will survive the day of snakes and ladders in the light breezes predicted.
Enjoy the images.
The third day dawned with a good breeze out of the south that bent into the south west as the day progressed. Didn't get below 10 knots and pumped up to 21 knots on occasions during the racing, though on the whole it moderated as the day progressed. The weather has been good, though bitterly cold and everyone is rugged up to the max despite the sun shining on the course on occasions. Only one sailor has remained unscathed so far and Will Boulden has carried all before him to this time. Close behind him is Galati of Italy and Dargaville of NSW ( Australia ) is third. Amongst the women the leader is Bezel of Switzerland followed by Koh of Singapore and Carter of Australia.
In regard to the days racing there were one or two notable moments and one would have to rank high as a good effort when late in the day, "Fighting Yamada' of Japan put one over Galati of Italy and forced him to gybe while carrying a kite. Nice one. Ended up wrapping it around the forestay. Yamada then proceeded to clear a penalty that he was carrying from a prior incident and while he was doing it Galati managed to clear the wrapped spinnaker and chase the unlucky Yamada down. Passing him, Galati stole a win back from Yamada and I can only feel that if Yamada had been quicker on the penalty clearance the race would have been his. Otherwise the pre race was a good spot to give your opponent a penalty that they'd have to carry, and that went for the women's as well as the open categories. The round robins were completed today and we go on to the semis tomorrow.
However the racing starts in earnest tomorrow and the gloves are off as only the best will survive the day of snakes and ladders in the light breezes predicted.
Enjoy the images.
Monday the 26th of September
First day
Don't buy coffee from the street side sellers beginning with M and B on a public holiday. It's not made with love.
Arriving at the club at the appointed time, I noticed the last of the ribs sliding out with a media crew on board. Damn... missed the boat.... so after a brief chat to those in charge a stroll down to the pens had me on the water within minutes and the camera was rolling as the crews began their dance on the water. It appears that the warnings that XO Andy Fethers had laid on the skippers had sunken in to all but one or two and only one boat was seen stuck on the putty in the am. ( this however does not reflect on another well known junior member of a sailing dynasty who managed to park his Foundation 36 on the putty in approximately the same spot a couple of years ago. It was his first time and he did not repeat it)
On a good westerly breeze that was curling over the ridge behind the club, the shifts were all over the place and straight up the middle was the go. The breeze had a base of 10 knots and occasionally jumped in to the mid teens and provided good and testing pressure for both the Foundation 36's sailed by the Open sailors and the women's teams on the Bakewell 8's . Nothing that could hurt you, though Dr. Ed was on the water ready to ply his trade if required .
The first hour I spent on the start boat with enough time to observe a few starts and get an idea of who was quick off the mark. My next hour was in the company of both Andy Fethers and then the Bakewell 8 maintenance boat with Fitzy and Ian on board as we took photos and then distributed the lunches to the boats. Finally caught up with lunch on the Finish boat and met up with some of the international coaches. Good company, but my kitchen French and Italian was working overtime to understand what they were saying. Fortunately Mark Fitzhardinge came to my rescue and dragged me off the boat to do some very nice work getting the sponsors and some late afternoon sailing photo-work. Many thanks Mark!
As to the sailing. Well its sort out time and the first indications exposed the differences of skill on the water. However RO Martin Clarke had the teams pouring off the race start line in quick time with the skippers responding to his call. Of the teams, the local lads had a whisker of a lead by the end of the first round robin with Will Boulden taking all the races presented and scoring 7 for the day but Valerio Galati of Italy only dropped one race (against Will ) and was panting at his heels. Close behind him was Frenchman Robin Follin with 5 points and Will Dargaville of Australia was fourth on 4 points. Not according to the rankings, but a strong nod to local knowledge.
The Women's racing managed to get through to mid way through the second round robin and had Bezel of Switzerland level pegging with Aussie Parker on 4 points and Ling Ying Koh of Singapore a close third on 3 points.
These are the first results and will change on the next day. For starters the wind is set to double in strength and the RO is hopeful of getting at least two flights in before they have to close out the racing. As for me, well I have other commitments and will be back on the water on Wednesday.. I hope that the weather has eased a little.
Enjoy the images
Arriving at the club at the appointed time, I noticed the last of the ribs sliding out with a media crew on board. Damn... missed the boat.... so after a brief chat to those in charge a stroll down to the pens had me on the water within minutes and the camera was rolling as the crews began their dance on the water. It appears that the warnings that XO Andy Fethers had laid on the skippers had sunken in to all but one or two and only one boat was seen stuck on the putty in the am. ( this however does not reflect on another well known junior member of a sailing dynasty who managed to park his Foundation 36 on the putty in approximately the same spot a couple of years ago. It was his first time and he did not repeat it)
On a good westerly breeze that was curling over the ridge behind the club, the shifts were all over the place and straight up the middle was the go. The breeze had a base of 10 knots and occasionally jumped in to the mid teens and provided good and testing pressure for both the Foundation 36's sailed by the Open sailors and the women's teams on the Bakewell 8's . Nothing that could hurt you, though Dr. Ed was on the water ready to ply his trade if required .
The first hour I spent on the start boat with enough time to observe a few starts and get an idea of who was quick off the mark. My next hour was in the company of both Andy Fethers and then the Bakewell 8 maintenance boat with Fitzy and Ian on board as we took photos and then distributed the lunches to the boats. Finally caught up with lunch on the Finish boat and met up with some of the international coaches. Good company, but my kitchen French and Italian was working overtime to understand what they were saying. Fortunately Mark Fitzhardinge came to my rescue and dragged me off the boat to do some very nice work getting the sponsors and some late afternoon sailing photo-work. Many thanks Mark!
As to the sailing. Well its sort out time and the first indications exposed the differences of skill on the water. However RO Martin Clarke had the teams pouring off the race start line in quick time with the skippers responding to his call. Of the teams, the local lads had a whisker of a lead by the end of the first round robin with Will Boulden taking all the races presented and scoring 7 for the day but Valerio Galati of Italy only dropped one race (against Will ) and was panting at his heels. Close behind him was Frenchman Robin Follin with 5 points and Will Dargaville of Australia was fourth on 4 points. Not according to the rankings, but a strong nod to local knowledge.
The Women's racing managed to get through to mid way through the second round robin and had Bezel of Switzerland level pegging with Aussie Parker on 4 points and Ling Ying Koh of Singapore a close third on 3 points.
These are the first results and will change on the next day. For starters the wind is set to double in strength and the RO is hopeful of getting at least two flights in before they have to close out the racing. As for me, well I have other commitments and will be back on the water on Wednesday.. I hope that the weather has eased a little.
Enjoy the images
Sunday the 25th of September
The training day and ceremonies.
Rocking up to the venue with a cup of Java in my lap, another glorious day on the water was about to evolve and even the nitty gritty of regatta stuff that got in the way while they sorted out my lost accreditation papers was not a problem.
Swan River Sailing and Royal Perth YC had lucked on a good day on the water for the welcome and training day.
XO Andy Fethers was kind enough to take me onto the water for an hour or two as the yachts set onto the water for the first time for some and they spread themselves far and wide over Melville Water East causing Andy to have to herd up the recalcitrant boats and bring them back to their designated racing area. A number of the less familiar racers found the mud quite easily as they tested the edges of the boundary's of the course.
The new RP start boat looked good with the upgraded gas driven sequencing system firmly in place. They were running through a number of series in order to give the newbies a chance to familiarize themselves with what was on offer. Made for some great shots too.
Working with Andy Fethers was good as he understood where a boat could be to take images, but due to his commitments the luxury of a dedicated boat wasn't on offer. I can wait for that as I know who's driving through the week.
Looking at the racers for the event I could see that there are two tiers, but the edges are going to be a little fuzzy as the week progresses. A lot of it will depend on the skippers and their crews ability to adapt to the boats and the environment. As a long time observer I should enjoy the maturation of the lower tiers.
A comment on the future of match racing. An over heard comment made me review various statements made in my presence over the last few months in regard to match racing ( twin hull) and match racing ( mono hull ). The modern theory espouses the twin hull. I'm not too sure about that, as I prefer the hurly burly of the mono's and the great prestart maneuvers that evolve from there. Haven't seen that in twin hulls racing.
To the Ceremonies and the pomp and circumstance that surrounds these events. A great set of guests and athletes with their national flags being brought in behind the podium and around to the seating area. I'd chosen to sit above the line and got a good shot of the speakers as they presented on the stage. Great stuff and I enjoyed each national group as they came through and showed their flag and I was heartened by the welcoming ceremony from the indigenous people of the Swan River. We were then welcomed by other notables of the community. (in the lack of a program to pinch information from)
The images are shown below in two sequences.
Swan River Sailing and Royal Perth YC had lucked on a good day on the water for the welcome and training day.
XO Andy Fethers was kind enough to take me onto the water for an hour or two as the yachts set onto the water for the first time for some and they spread themselves far and wide over Melville Water East causing Andy to have to herd up the recalcitrant boats and bring them back to their designated racing area. A number of the less familiar racers found the mud quite easily as they tested the edges of the boundary's of the course.
The new RP start boat looked good with the upgraded gas driven sequencing system firmly in place. They were running through a number of series in order to give the newbies a chance to familiarize themselves with what was on offer. Made for some great shots too.
Working with Andy Fethers was good as he understood where a boat could be to take images, but due to his commitments the luxury of a dedicated boat wasn't on offer. I can wait for that as I know who's driving through the week.
Looking at the racers for the event I could see that there are two tiers, but the edges are going to be a little fuzzy as the week progresses. A lot of it will depend on the skippers and their crews ability to adapt to the boats and the environment. As a long time observer I should enjoy the maturation of the lower tiers.
A comment on the future of match racing. An over heard comment made me review various statements made in my presence over the last few months in regard to match racing ( twin hull) and match racing ( mono hull ). The modern theory espouses the twin hull. I'm not too sure about that, as I prefer the hurly burly of the mono's and the great prestart maneuvers that evolve from there. Haven't seen that in twin hulls racing.
To the Ceremonies and the pomp and circumstance that surrounds these events. A great set of guests and athletes with their national flags being brought in behind the podium and around to the seating area. I'd chosen to sit above the line and got a good shot of the speakers as they presented on the stage. Great stuff and I enjoyed each national group as they came through and showed their flag and I was heartened by the welcoming ceremony from the indigenous people of the Swan River. We were then welcomed by other notables of the community. (in the lack of a program to pinch information from)
The images are shown below in two sequences.