Over the mid-semester break the UniGames circus descended on the Gold Coast
yet again.
Seven Sydney University sailors, Alex South & Nick Howe ©, Josie Roper
(manager), Jeronimo Harrison, Rohan Pethayagoda, Scott Sydney & Lovelle
D’Souza, arrived on the Sunday, eager to contest the Teams Racing event; the
first time it was ‘officially’ a part of the Games.
After training on Monday, Team Usyd got down to business in the rounds on
Tuesday and Wednesday, taking on 5 other universities (UNSW, UTS, Monash,
UWA & ADFA) to emerge 2nd on the ladder after a total of 36 rounds of sailing.
Conditions over the week varied; strong winds and gusts building only to drop
off, then build again, but the one constant was the now infamous tide. Heading
south at nearly 3 knots, it posed a challenge to all sailors, especially in light
winds on the upwind leg; at one stage boats appeared to be going backwards,
whilst others failed to start.
Finals day was held on Thursday, contested by all teams in a set of best of 3
challenges with winners pitted against lower ranking teams, culminating in
semis & finals. A loss to UWA in a challenge meant that the Perth-based team