
Sailors from the Wellington Talent Development Programme,
administered by Royal Port Nicholson Yacht Club and supported by
Wellington City Council and Yachting New Zealand, performed very well
in three separate national championships over the weekend. Top placer
getter was Anita Trudgen from Muritai Yacht Club who sailed with Sam
McKenzie from Auckland at the Sunburst Nationals in Wellington and
finished in first place overall. Anita and Sam sailed a consistent
regatta in varying wind conditions and were well clear on points from
the rest of the 42 boat fleet.
Next best was Josh Porebski from Worser Bay Boating Club who took
out second place at the Laser Radial national championships in Timaru.
Josh’s regatta got off to a shaky start when on day one his hiking
straps broke causing him to limp around the race track in both of the
day’s races. >From there he sailed a strong regatta including a
string of first place results which saw him tied for first place going
into the last race. Although he bet his main opposition in the last
race they were both to far down the fleet meaning Josh had to settle
for second place overall. This regatta was the first of two to decide
the New Zealand representative for the ISAF youth world championships
later this year.
Meanwhile Josh Junior from Worser Bay Boating Club finished in
third place in the hotly contested Laser Open National Championships
also sailed in Timaru. With 2008 Olympic representative Andrew Murdoch
and 2009 Laser World Championships silver medallist Mike Bullot in the
fleet it was always going to be a tough assignment. Josh performed
extremely well to finish the regatta on equal points with Mike Bullot
only to be relegated to third place on a count back. This event was
step one of two to select the three person New Zealand team to attend
the 2010 World Laser Open Championships in England.
These were the first of a string of competitions that sailors from
the squad are entered in over the next six weeks. The next sailor to
watch is Matthew Steven as he begins competing in the OK Dinghy
Interdominion championships in Wellington on Monday while the rest of
Talent Development squad prepares for a busy Trans Tasman match racing
schedule through February and March.
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