Sailing State Championships
It was a fantastic weekend for our sailors at the NSW Schools Sailing Championships, with Cranbrook 1 successfully defending the title over 3 days of tight racing. We are now state champions two years in a row and the boys will focus their attention on the nationals champs in July. Not only do we return with the trophy, but we put 3 teams into the top 6 places, with our 3rds and 2nds finishing in 5th and 6th place respectively.
Additionally, the boys were noted at the presentation as the school with the best sportsmanship and the teams that were always there to help launch and retrieve boats as well as helping with breakdowns. To have both the performance and the recognition of their character is a great credit to the boys, and the whole coaching team in the sailing program. Our sailors are a humble bunch who choose to quietly go about their business, but I know they would be thrilled if you congratulated them in the hallways and classes this week.
Teams lists, and more detail on the competition below.
School events race in a teams racing format where teams of 3 boats race against each other on a tight track, involving 4 turning marks in what usually amounts to an 8 – 10 minute race. The team of three boats with the best placing win the race and sailors spend their time blocking and slowing their opponents to allow team mates past. The regatta format allows schools to enter multiple teams, and this year our depth of skill and talent was so significant that we chose to enter 4 teams. They all compete into the same swiss league system for a qualifying series over 2 days. By Sunday morning as qualifying concluded our squad was dominant, with three of our teams occupying the top 4 spots on the card, and the 4th VI sitting in 23rd place.
The regatta is then decided over a finals series for the top 8 teams. Two and a half hours of qualifying boils down to an hour and a half of rapid fire 8 – 10 minute races to decide the event, lots of pressure and lots of jeopardy. With light winds the pressure was on for the race start where the teams jostle for position and attempt to block opponents from starting on time, whilst the 1st VI executed beautifully, the 2nd and 3rd VI mis-times starts in critical races and narrowly missed the semi finals and ending 6th and 5th respectively.
The 1st VI then quickly dispatched Scots 2 in the semi finals before facing Scots 1 in one of the most closely fought finals I’ve seen. The final is a best of 5 races between the two teams, meaning that to win the event a team needs to accumulate 3 race wins. Our boys went out to an early 2 – 0 lead, but Scots responded with a brilliant performance under pressure to win the next two races and level the board at 2 – 2. With one more race as a final decider for series the boys stepped it up a gear at the start line and left the opposition late to the line and with penalties. They so completely dominated the start that the race essentially became a victory lap for a resounding win.
Final results:
Cranbrook 1st VI – 1st Place
Cranbrook 2nd VI – 6th Place
Cranbrook 3rd VI – 5th Place
| Cranbrook 1 | |
| Skipper | Crew |
| Spencer Mckay (c) | Ethan Rushton |
| Henry Myers | Harrison Lucas Martinez |
| Luca Alexander | Hugo Charles |
| Cranbrook 2 | |
| Skipper | Crew |
| Walter Heeley | Tucker McKeon |
| Martin Liebhold | Oscar Deutsch |
| Jackson Parker (c) | Juliun Doumit |
| Cormac Johnston | Remy Philips |
| Cranbrook 3 | |
| Cameron La (c) | Harrison Rudham |
| Ben Richards | Rupert Rust |
| Stirling McKay | Oscar Balalla |
| Angus Baker Wood | River Kedzier Hurst |
| Cranbrook 4 | |
| Skipper | Crew |
| Alex Villata (c) | Joshua Shannon |
| Oliver Barlow | Jared Swinbourne |
| Oli Knowles | Leonid Burshtein |
Tom Brewer
Head of AFL and Sailing