Another light morning greeted our competitors on day three, however, that didn’t stop our young sailors from enjoying the morning as the AP flag was raised.  
Titouan from Middle Harbour Yacht Club and Woollahra Sailing Club spoke passionately about his love of the sport. “My favourite part about sailing is how you exercise yourself and always have fun and go really fast. I made lots of new friends here. You travel to new clubs, and they help you learn new styles and techniques. I just really love sailing”

Joel Beashel from Belmont 16ft Skiff Club said “I’ve really enjoyed the weekend, its had a lot of testing conditions, it’s been quite tricky and hard to sail in. I’ve gotten to see a lot of old friends this weekend that I haven’t seen for a while.” 

As we headed into the middle of the day, our fleet was still stuck ashore, though, a joyous cacophony of screams and laughs filled the beach as our junior sailors filled their time getting to know each other and running around. It was starting to look like our sailors wouldn’t get any racing in at all on day 3. 
Suddenly, the wind started to build, and as the boats hit the water, it swelled. By the time classes had reached their courses, the AP flags were lowered, and the countdown began.
 

The racing was fierce on day three, our competitors’ skills having grown sharper throughout the championship. Harper from Hunters Hill Sailing Club said “Youths was very fun, I was slowly improving through the weekend, and on the last race, I got first! I really love sailing, you get to spend time on the water with your friends, and you learn loads of new life skills.” After we finished speaking with Harper, her friend ran to her jumping for joy with Harper’s achievement.

Stella and Seisia from Hunters Hill Sailing Club and Lake Cootharaba Sailing Club (QLD) said “the day was delayed, but it was really good that we were able to get out there and racing, Lake Macquarie has been a great spot to sail.” Seisia commented “it’s great meeting new friends, all my good friends are from sailing.” 

Jury Chair Ian Humphries said “We had lots of fair sailing this weekend, they started off a bit rusty coming out of lockdowns, we had three jury boats out across the race courses and encouraged the competitors to race fairly. We had a good turnout for this event and some quality sailing, there is a positive future for sailing in Australia.”

Find the full results here and follow all of the action online via the videos and racing updates @AustSailYouth on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter