Three USA teams seek Australian title

Published on November 21st, 2019

Twelve international teams from Australia, New Zealand, United States of America, Great Britain, and Ireland will compete in the four-day 2020 Musto International Youth Match Racing Regatta on November 26-29 in Sydney, Australia.

With six competitors inside the top 25 and only three outside the top 50 in the World Sailing match racing rankings, among the favorites will be Nick Egnot-Johnson (NZL), ranked second in the world, and fellow New Zealand skipper Jordan Stevenson (ranked 12th in the world).

Australia’s hopes to recapture the trophy will fall with Tom Grimes, the current Youth Match Racing World Champion. Grimes will be jumping back on the helm after a three-month break since his World Championship victory over Egnot-Johnson. Grimes’ is one of three teams competing on behalf of the host, Cruising Yacht Club of Australia, with James Hodgson, the current Australian Youth Match Racing Champion and runner-up Finn Tapper, also competing.

For the first time, teams from Great Britain and Ireland will compete, as both countries prepare for the 2020 Youth Match Racing World Championship to be held in Auckland, New Zealand. Matt Whitfield (GBR) will be spending a lot of time down south as he tries to improve on his sixth-placed finish at this year’s World Championship. Niall Malone will be a new skipper to the event, representing the Royal Irish Yacht Club (IRL).

There will be another strong USA contingent from California with David Wood and Jeffrey Petersen, both from Balboa Yacht Club, returning to the competition for a second year. They are joined by fellow American and defending champion Frankie Dair from California Yacht Club.

Teams will compete in the Elliott 7 Class boats with the format beginning with a single round robin round that advances the top four teams to the Quarter Finals while the bottom eight teams move to the Repechage Round to fight for the remaining four slots, after which the knockout rounds will advance the two surviving teams to the Finals.

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