JARVIN Hits The Lead

It was a fantastic day on Waitemata Harbour with a total of six flights of round robin one completed and JARVIN and his crew of Rob BELL and Sam NEWTON hitting the lead.

The young Australian team showed their light air skills in an Elliott 6 yacht today, with a total of six wins out of six races. As the same team who won the ISAF Grade 3 RNZYS Youth International Match Racing Championships in 2005, they know the boats and are looking sharp!

Kiwis Also On Form

Second overall after day one is local Simon DICKEY (NZL) and his crew of Dallas BENNETT and Adam MINOPRIO. MINOPRIO flew back to Auckland early yesterday from Los Angeles, USA where he had been sailing in the ISAF Grade 1 Congressional Cup with his older brother Simon MINOPRIO (NZL). But the jetlag did not show as the team sailed well to win five races, only losing to Japan's Takumi NAKAMURA in a very close match race.

Tied on four wins are NAKAMURA and Jessica SMYTH (NZL), who qualified for this regatta only two weekends ago, when she came second in the ISAF Grade 3 MATIS New Zealand Women's Match Racing Championship, but first New Zealand team awarding her the Nations Cup invitation. The experience of sailing in the recent Match Racing regatta also held in the Elliott 6 at the RNZYS definitely showed today, as SMYTH takes an early advantage over the only other female team of Ikuko SAKUDO (JPN). SAKUDO struggled today in the lighter breeze and with no wins is hoping for more breeze tomorrow.

New Caledonian's Philipe MAZARD and his team were familiar with the beautiful sailing conditions on the Waitemata Harbour today and sailed very well to win three matches.

On one win each are Tahiti's Teva PILCHART and the Cook Islands' Jan SIJP, who go head to head in the first match tomorrow.

Official View

Chief Umpire John STANDLEY commented on the day, 'We had a few incidents, some really close match racing and close pre-starts, and the weather made it a fantastic day on the water.'

Principal Race Officer Harold BENNETT also reflected, 'We had about seven to eight knots of breeze in the morning but after flight two we delayed racing for a while to wait for the tide to change. Right on the tide the wind changed from out of the east to a north easterly.

'Then we had a lovely afternoon breeze of about eight to ten knots, which is not a lot, but for the level of sailors it was perfect. A chance to bed in and settle down as the breeze remained steady in the afternoon.

'We got six flights done and with three more days to go and good weather forecast we came in. We had no early entries; some recalls caused by the tactical situation the sailors were employing and no delays for damage. So all in all it was a great day on the water.'

Back ashore there were numerous spectators watching from the 'Westhaven Wall' in the carpark off the Squadron Clubrooms and also in the Members Bar upstairs.

ISAF Nations Cup Regional Final - Oceania Standings

1. Seve JARVIN (AUS), 6-0
2. Simon DICKEY (NZL), 5-1
3. Takumi NAKAMURA (JPN), 4-2
3. Jess SMYTH (NZL), 4-2
5. Phillipe MAZARD (FRA), 3-3
6. Teva PILCHART (TAH), 1-5
6. Jan SIJP (COK), 1-5
8. Ikuko SAKUDO (JPN), 0-6

ISAF Nations Cup Regional Finals And Qualifying Crews

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