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POLLARD won the first of the final races but despite close matches and good sailing by the on form RSYS team, JARVIN took the next three races and the title.

Yesterday afternoon the winning skipper acknowledged that the standard of competition in this regatta had lifted substantially in the last three years. 'Clubs and sponsors are proactively creating more and more opportunities for youth sailors to compete against each other. As a result, everyone has stepped up,' said JARVIN, who is working towards competing on the ISAF Grade 1 circuit and improving his ISAF World Match Race Ranking of 27, both which may be a step closer following yet another outstanding performance from the talented young sailor.

Following a win over JARVIN in the re-sail from Friday, it was actually CYCA skipper Evan WALKER who was raising eyebrows heading into yesterday's semi finals.

WALKER chose to go up against POLLARD's RSYS team in the semi finals, but despite two tense gybing duels, he was unable to defend his overall first position and lost both races by the smallest of margins. WALKER's downhill slide was to continue when an on-water incident in the best of five petite finals cost him heavily.

WALKER took out the first race and lost the second before his third race result, another win, was downgraded after an umpire protested him for giving insufficient room to a boat racing in another regatta. WALKER went on to win the fourth race but lost the fifth and sixth races and when the final points were tallied, it was the half point penalty which relegated a disappointed WALKER to fourth place.

'Today's racing in the patchy six to twelve knot southeaster produced some fantastic gybing duels, particularly between WALKER and POLLARD in the semis,' said regatta organizer Jenni BONNITCHA.

'While everyone sailed very competitively over the four days, it was great to see the support amongst the teams. It wasn't a regatta where teams were prepared to win at any cost,' she added.

Her observations were backed up by Chief Umpire Phil MOSTYN who said he was delighted to witness the camaraderie the competitors showed towards each other.

At the trophy presentation, Tony KIRBY from regatta sponsor Bavaria Yachts said, 'It is fantastic to see competitors from range of Australian and New Zealand yacht clubs come together, gain so much and then return this knowledge and experience to their host club.'

'Bavaria Yachts is looking forward to being involved in next year's regatta,' he added.

Bavaria International Youth Match Racing Final Standings

1. Seve JARVIN (AUS)
2. Stuart POLLARD (AUS)
3. Torvar MIRSKY (AUS)
4. Evan WALKER (AUS)
5. Phil ROBERTSON (NZL)
6. Hamish ROUGHLEY (AUS)
7. Nina CURTIS (AUS)
8. Theo MCDONNELL (NZL)
9. Megan RIDGWAY (AUS)
10. Robert GIBBS (AUS)