Members Molly O'Bryan Vandemoer and Julie Mitchell represented the US and SDYC at the Women's Match Racing World Championship in New Zealand in November. The event was hosted by the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron, the current home of the America’s Cup. The team consisted of Nicole Breault – skipper, Molly O'Bryan Vandemoer – tactician, Dana Riley – spinnaker trim, Karen Loutzenheiser – jib trim, and Julie Mitchell – bow.
The team arrived a week early to race in the New Zealand Women's Match Racing Championship and used that opportunity to learn the venue and boats. The racing was held in Auckland Harbour just off the RNZYS club house, where the weather is quite variable and the current can be vigorous. When the course had a strong cross current, the race committee set a port weather mark rounding with an offset in an attempt to make a downwind leg that would include some gybing.
This event offered up strong breeze which made it a little harder learning the boats. The Elliot 7 meters are designed to be sailed with 4 people, so crew positioning with 5 was a little tight. We learned a lot about the boats, like when it is over 20 knots the boats readily get up on a plane, so immediately after windy sets I needed to crawl over Karen, then scamper under the spinnaker sheet to get far enough back in the boat to keep the bow from nose diving. Although we were still figuring out the nuances of the boat, our tactics were strong, leading us to a 5th place finish in the NZ Championship.
The World’s drew the top 14 female match race teams from around the world and is the last event of this year’s Women’s World Match Racing Tour.
The first day of racing started off with a pleasant 10 knots before a squall set in early afternoon, bringing with it 25 knots of wind and rain, on top of cross current, making for some challenging chop and exciting racing. The race committee completed 11 flights, finishing after 7:00 pm, making for an extremely long day.
Friday brought squalls, winds from 25 to 45 knots, and strong currents. This equated to a long delay ashore waiting for the front to pass. At 4:00 pm, racing started for the day to the west of the Harbour Bridge where the conditions were more settled.
The following day racing started in a dying breeze, on a course that intersected the classic yacht race. After a lengthy delay, the breeze filled to 15+ knots allowing the round robin to be completed and us to secure the last spot in the quarterfinals.
The final day delivered light, shifty, and frustrating conditions. We had some tight races, disappointing umpire calls, great match racing maneuvering, unfortunately not enough to move us into the semifinals, but moved us into 5th place in the World Championship. Pauline Courtois from France dominated the event followed by locals Celia Wilson and Megan Thompson rounding out the top three.
The RNZYS bestowed fantastic hospitality, the venue delivered a range of challenging conditions, and the competition was steep. We are proud to represent SDYC at this prestigious event and thankful for the support from the Competition Fund.
