The Cruising Yacht Club of Australia’s India Howard, Jess Grimes, Emma Byrne, Jess Tavener and Ange Kear have won the 2019 John Messenger Women’s Match Racing Regatta, defeating RPAYC’s Juliet Costanzo 2-0 in the finals. Before they reached the finals, the two Australian teams had to beat their cross Tasman rivals from New Zealand. The Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron, securing two semi-final berths and finishing in third and fourth after the round robin.
In the first semi-final, round robin winner, Juliet Costanzo chose to race Emma Hyde (RNZYS) and defeated her 2-0. Costanzo was the clear leader after the round robin, winning 13 of her 14 races.
This left another AUS versus NZL semi-final, with India Howard, who finished second after the round robin on 12-2, to race Megan Thomson on 11-3. Their semi-final went to the third and final race, with Howard coming back from 0-1 down to win 2-1.
In the Finals, the Howard and her team made stronger starts, and converted both early leads to race victories to secure their first John Messenger Women’s Match Racing Regatta title. “We are really pleased with how the weekend went. We developed as a team throughout the regatta and got it all together for the Final. It’s a fantastic result for us.” Commented India Howard after racing. In the 7th and 8th sail off, their was a bit of an upset with RNZYS’s Brooke Adamson, who was previously without a race victory, winning the sail off 2-1. In the 5th and 6th sail off, Maddie O’Shea beat CYCA’s Chelsea Williams 2-1.
