World Match Racing Tour Shenzhen Bao’an Final 2024 – Day 1
by WMRT 10 Dec 07:44 PST
10-15 December 2024
World Match Racing Tour Shenzhen Bao’an Final – Day 1 © Ian Roman / WMRT
The 2024 World Match Racing Tour Shenzhen Bao’an Final has begun. The event kicked off with an opening ceremony featuring skippers, teams, organizing officials, and spectators.
Despite a minor delay in the morning caused by anticipated light winds, Principal Race Officer Randy Smith successfully managed six flights of the round-robin on the inaugural day.
Currently, Chris Poole (USA), Nick Egnot-Johnson (NZL), and Cole Tapper (AUS) are tied at the top of the leaderboard, each achieving four victories in the early rounds of the series.
Teams came out aggressively with some incredibly tight racing right from the start. Those who could handle the light morning winds positioned themselves for success. By the afternoon, an increasing wind provided slightly more consistent conditions.
Cole Tapper, newly named Youth Match Racing World Champion, is maintaining his strong performance. His coach from the Youth Worlds, Jordan Reece, is accompanying him as a crew member for this event, while his previous trimmer from last week is sailing with the Kiwi team, KNOTS Racing.
“I’m competing with a different crew this week, including our coach Jordan Reece, who keeps us organized and does a fantastic job of calling the shifts,” Tapper remarked about his impressive first day. “Often, you might win yet not feel good because it was shifting all over, but we focused on the other races and figured it out the best we could.”
New Zealand’s Nick Egnot-Johnson stands at 4-2 following the opening day with his KNOTS Racing team.
“Our aim today was to take each race as it comes and not be too disheartened if a shift didn’t go our way,” Nick Egnot-Johnson stated regarding the variable conditions on the course. “From here, it’s one race at a time.”
Also riding the wave of recent success is Sweden’s Johnie Berntsson. After winning his fourth Bermuda Gold Cup, Berntsson and his crew enjoyed a robust start with a 3-0 record heading into tomorrow’s racing.
The round-robin will proceed tomorrow, with racing set to commence at 1000 local time.
