2021 WA Sailing Squad End of Season Report

The Victorian Youth State Championships held over Easter brings the end of our 2021 WASS season. It was a fantastic trip to Melbourne for the team, a substitute Youth National Championship for our youth and their first domestic regatta in over two years. A more detailed review on our time in Melbourne can be read here.

2020 and 2021 had been an isolating time for our WA sailors with no national titles to work towards and train for. A big challenge for young sailors to keep an eye to the future, enjoy the small wins and chase longer term goals. It is a real credit to the sailors who kept at it and have come out the other side a stronger person and sailor for it.

Even without our youth class national titles in January, it has been a very busy year. Some highlights for the squad include Hector Paturau winning the Formula KiteFoil National Titles in March 2022 with fellow squad member Alex Landwehr finishing third, and Jane Taylor finishing second female. Both Hector and Alex have since become WAIS scholars as they campaign towards Paris 2024. The new Formula Kite and IQ Windfoiling classes introduced for the 2024 Olympics have been a focus area for the squad.

It has also been very pleasing to see 2018 – 2020 WASS 29er graduates and now WAIS sailors, Harry and Jack Joyner taking so strongly to the IQ Windfoil under the guidance of Arthur and Belinda. Harry recently winning Youth Worlds Selection in Melbourne and being selected for the Australian Sailing Futures Squad.

Seeing the growth and strength in our female cohort has also been a highlight over this past season. Lili McAullay in the ILCA 6 (Laser Radial) topped the fleet at the Goolugatup Cup in January and has been rapidly improving this last six months. She was rewarded with a place at the National Youth Camp in late April. Annabelle Jones & Jenna Everett as well as Ona Rafart (with brother Pol) in the 29er fleet have been racing right at the front of the fleet in WA all summer.

Annabelle and Jenna finished second youth female in Melbourne, while Ona and Pol placed second overall at the State Titles earlier in the summer. It has also been pleasing to start to see some of our girls move into the IQ Windfoiling space. Caitlin Shaw leads the way, moving from her Laser, with Drina Bucktin also moving from the 29er to start her foiling journey. Watch this space!

Other stand outs this year have been the development at the front of our 29er fleet as WA youth sailing has transitioned away from the 420 to the 29er skiff class. Zac Sprunt and Vassilis Katsaitis have won every local event this year and finished third overall in Melbourne. Two years ago, they finished 29th. Similarly, Mitch McLeod and Harry Wright only marginally qualified for WASS for 2021, however with consistency in training and a focus on improving their speed and strategy, finished sixth in Melbourne in their only national 29er event to date.

Samuel Williams and Jamie Randall also impressed in Melbourne with several top six finishes and 11th overall to round out their first full season in the 29er together.

In the ILCA 4s, it has been great to see a resurgence of number at the regattas in recent months. The racing has been close, and a tight knit collaborative culture seems to have

development in the group. It is exciting to see the sailors coming through in the fleet as

our next generation of ILCA sailors.

Westsail was a big success this year for all involved with the residential camp reborn and a strengthened coach development focus. This was a massive effort from Australian Sailing WA, WASS and the host club Hillary’s to make the changes and take big steps forward from the previous few years. We had five WAIS athletes who gave their time and expertise to coach the next generation, including Olympian Nia Jerwood who headed up the Optimist team.

With coach development a key pillar in the WASS strategy it was very pleasing to see our WASS coaches rewarded with some recognition for the work and new opportunities. Hayley Clark started coaching 29ers with WASS in 2021 and has grown immensely this year. She has been rewarded with a position to coach the Australian Sailing Youth Team at the Youth World Championships in The Hauge later in July.

Hayley was also selected as one of four sailing coaches nationwide to be part of the AIS Elevate Coach Development Program and has received an AIS Next Level Coaching Scholarship. We are very proud of Hayley and want to thank her for her contribution to WASS in 2021/22. Hopefully we will have Hayley back for the rest of 2022 once she returns from coaching and some time off in Europe over winter.

WASS Laser coach Ben Walkemeyer has also been rewarded with a new opportunity to be Assistant Coach for the Women’s National ILCA 6 (Laser Radial) Program in a 50/50 role with legend Carolijn Brouwer. Ben has a had big part to play in the recent success of the WA Laser cohort, including his time with Michael and Stefan, guiding them from WASS to international success in the ILCA 6, and now continuing to support them in their ILCA 7 journey in the senior ranks. Well done Ben, and hopefully we can still have you out on the water with our WA sailors when you are home.

All up in 2021 we had 35 active sailors in the WASS squad across the 29er, ILCA 4, 6, & 7, IQ Windfoil and KiteFoil. From weekly strength and conditioning sessions at the WAIS High Performance Service Centre, Westsail, Melbourne, camps and local regattas on water, to nutrition, performance psych, weather and tactics workshops, it has been a big year!

Selection for 2022 season will be undertaken later this month and invites released in early June. Final rankings from our regatta season which are used to inform selection can be found at the following link.

Thank you to everyone that supported the program and the sailors in it this year. This

includes program’s clubs, Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club, South of Perth Yacht Club, Fremantle Sailing Club, Royal Perth Yacht Club, and Hillarys Yacht Club. As well as Australian Sailing, and the WA office, WAIS, YWA and the Ron Tough Yachting Foundation.