Competitors from 18 countries and five continents made Moreton Bay look like a united nations convention as the fleet left the marina for the first day of racing.
The 108 strong fleet of under nineteen year olds includes 40 under the age of 17 and 24 girls split into two groups each day for a qualifying and final series. Light winds of 6 to 8 knots and a slightly oscillating sea breeze provided plenty of opportunity for place changes, sharing of honours between continents and an opportunity for the girls to show the boys the way round.
Cecilia CARRANZA (ARG) and Charlotte DOBSON (GBR) both had their time at the front of their respective fleets but in the tight racing dropped a few places as new leaders appeared at almost every mark. Dobson finished second behind Javier PADRON of Spain in the second race of her fleet and bettered him by 11 places in their first race which was won by Daniel JAKOBSSON from Brazil. Dobson's 14, Padron's 25 in the first race and Jakobsson's 12 in the second race demonstrated how difficult it was to be consistent.
Jakobsson said.
"I got the shifts right in the first race playing first the right hand and then the left hand side of the two windward legs. In the second race I had a poor start and could not get to the side right hand side of the course." Padron laughed when asked about his first race but was happy with his second.
"I had a good start and got to the first mark in third. On the downwind I got closer to the leading two boats and passed them on the second downwind."
Singapore's Justin TAN had a similar story.
"I got the current wrong in the first race but had good strategy in the second to finish third." Nathan OUTERIDGE (AUS) was the most consistent in the yellow fleet scoring a third and fourth, closely followed by Carranza's fourth and fifth.In the blue fleet, sailing the inner loop of the trapezoid course, Mathieu FREI from France scored the best results of the day winning the first race after overtaking Carlos TEIXIDOR from Puerto Rico after the downwind gate and finishing a half a boat length behind Conor BYRNE (IRL) in an exciting finish in the second race.
Full results are available on the event website at the address below.