Blogs

ACT Teams Racing Annual Championship



Olivia Lee reports, 'The pressure was rising, and the wind was starting to pick up, as 16 teams were getting ready to go onto the water. It was the 24th of February 2024, and the two-day ACT Teams Racing Annual Championship was about to begin. 96 competitors made up 16 teams and made their way to Canberra, Lake Burley Griffin, 2 of which came from the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron. Of those 16 teams there were 6 people in each. Representing the Squadron were:

Rory Miller, Isabel Yu, Brodie Kinsman, Lily Zahab, Kieran Davey-Webb, Orlando Ciliberto, Massimo Henderson, Edward Paine, Isobel Paine, Abigail Tattersail, Olivia Lee & Seen Sihu.

The 24th was a late start, starting in the early afternoon, but the teams were eager to go onto the water and start racing. It was light and glassy at the beginning, though the wind picked up, and in the word's competitor Rory Miller, “the wind was howling”. The result of the wind picking up led to consistent racing. Everyone got through 5 races on Saturday.

The 25th was a much earlier start compared to the previous day, as racing started late in the morning. The competitors managed to still get through their homework, similarly to Saturday. Also, similarly to Saturday, the wind picked up after the lake had close to no wind at all. Once the wind picked up it was consistent before slowly dying off again in the late afternoon.

The results over the two days placed Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron 4th and 5th out of 16 teams. This was an amazing result as the team has improved immensely since last year. Many of the kids had said that they had fun, and were grateful to have attended the regatta, they also mentioned how they had learnt a lot during the weekend and worked hard to get this result. Finally, this result couldn’t have happened with Gretel, our coach. Thank you, Gretel, for all the coaching and all the parents who supported us with food, lollies and words of encouragement!'