Jordan Stevenson, Mitch Jackson, George Angus, Jake Erson, Jeb Lardies have been declared the overall winner of the 2019 ‘Joy Ride’ Trophy, winning their first World Sailing Grade 1 event, conducted by the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia.
Representing the powerhouse which is the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron, under the direction of Rueben Corrbett, Stevenson now joins the ranks of six other RNZYS skippers to have won the trophy, with RNZYS now only 1 win behind equalling the host Club’s record of 8 ‘Joy Ride’ trophy victories.
For Stevenson, the writing was on the wall since the beginning of the week, with the young kiwi sailing fast and mature for his age throughout the competition. In the end, Stevenson won the Finals 2-1 over Great Britain’s Matt Whitfield. For Whitfield, it was two second’s in a row for his Australian campaign, after finishing second at the Harken International last week at the RPAYC.
In the petit-final, it was a re-match of the current World Champion, Tom Grimes, against long time rival and world champion runners-up Nick Egnot-Johnson. Once again it took the three races to decide the winner, with the kiwi coming out on top this time round.
Over the four-day competition, 93 races were completed for the first ever World Sailing Grade 1 for the east coast of Australia, with the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia once again delivering a superb regatta.
