Perth, Australia (March 18th, 2017) – Local skipper Steve Thomas and his RPM Racing team have made a clean sweep of the Perth Match Cup, winning every race and confirming his qualification for next weekโs Match Cup Australia, the first championship level event of the 2017 World Match Racing Tour.
Also through to the event next week are second placed Evan Walker from Sydney and New Zealand skipper George Anyon of Auckland. Walker, who represents the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia, sailed a strong series, while Anyon was the surprise of the event, putting in a mature performance.
โItโs awesome to have a clean sweep,โ admitted Thomas at the end of the day, โwe really didnโt expect that coming into the week. Although we hadnโt sailed together before, everything came together pretty quickly and that helped us to build on all the tactical things we wanted to work on through the week. By the end of it we were feeling really comfortable.โ
Thomasโs crew of Rhys Mara, Ben Robinson and Henry Kernot, all have enviable sailing CVs, and are no strangers to the top end of the leaderboard, but their ability to work together as a team has been remarkable. Steve Thomas has already qualified for the Tour event in northern Europe, and the team will be seeking invitations to other qualifiers.
Finishing third, and qualifying for next weekโs event was a big surprise for George Anyon and his crew, with this being Georgeโs first regatta at the helm of an M32. โI was surprised at how quickly I picked it up as a helm,โ he admitted, โthe boats are actually quite simple, which is nice.โ
Despite overcast weather and some rain, there was a good breeze all day, which made for some great racing on the confined waters of the Swan Riverโs Freshwater Bay. The regatta has been hosted by the Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club, which is also the venue for next weekโs event.
