You need Flash Player 8 or higher to view video content with the Kit Digital Flash Player.
Click here to download and install it.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Monsoon Cup LIVE!
You need Flash Player 8 or higher to view video content with the Kit Digital Flash Player.
Click here to download and install it.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Victory for WAKA Racing!
Coming through the round robin with a 10-0 score record was a real confidence booster for us heading into the final day of racing. Unfortunately, our talented tactician and mainsheet guy Garth Ellingham was hit with heat stroke and we had to make a quick decision to forfeit one of our races. In hindsight, it probably wasn’t the best decision - we hadn’t had a loss on our record to date, however we were already guaranteed top spot heading into the Semis.
Results for the Semis:
Flight 1: Robertson/Kaye: Robertson by 44 sec
Flight 2: Robertson/Kaye: Robertson by 1m 23 sec
Flight 3: Kaye/Robertson: Robertson by 30 sec
Teams through to the finals:
Michael Dunstan (SLAM Match Racing Team)
Phil Robertson (WAKA Racing)
FINALS
Pressure was on and it was these moments that would make or break our dream of winning the Asian Match Racing Championships and entry to the prestigious Monsoon Cup. The pressure was on, with Garth recovered and back on board, team confidence was high, but the battle between SLAM Match Racing and WAKA Racing wasn’t to be taken for granted. After three intense races and some awesome sailing with Waka Racing dealing all the penalties, looking for every opportunity to take the lead, and keeping tight cover on SLAM Match Racing, New Zealand Team WAKA Racing were announced CHAMPIONS OF THE 2009 ASIAN MATCH RACING CHAMPIONSHIPS! We are thrilled to tell you that we will be heading in a few weeks to compete in the 2009 Monsoon Cup!
Flight 1: Robertson/Kaye: Robertson by 44 sec
Flight 2: Robertson/Kaye: Robertson by 1m 23 sec
Flight 3: Kaye/Robertson: Robertson by 30 sec
Teams through to the finals:
Michael Dunstan (SLAM Match Racing Team)
Phil Robertson (WAKA Racing)
FINALS
Pressure was on and it was these moments that would make or break our dream of winning the Asian Match Racing Championships and entry to the prestigious Monsoon Cup. The pressure was on, with Garth recovered and back on board, team confidence was high, but the battle between SLAM Match Racing and WAKA Racing wasn’t to be taken for granted. After three intense races and some awesome sailing with Waka Racing dealing all the penalties, looking for every opportunity to take the lead, and keeping tight cover on SLAM Match Racing, New Zealand Team WAKA Racing were announced CHAMPIONS OF THE 2009 ASIAN MATCH RACING CHAMPIONSHIPS! We are thrilled to tell you that we will be heading in a few weeks to compete in the 2009 Monsoon Cup!
‘You made it look easy, but it certainly wasn’t.’- Peter Gilmour
WAKA Racing – Skipper Phil Robertson, Tactician Garth Ellingham, Trimmer James Williamson, Pitman Samuel ( Muscle Man)Archer Bell and Bowman Adam Martin would like to say a huge thank you to their sponsors, supporters for making it possible for us to come to this event.
Final Standings for the Asian Match Racing Championships 2009
Final Standings for the Asian Match Racing Championships 2009
Interview with Phil Robertson and Michael Dunstan
COMING NEXT FOR WAKA RACING…
The WAKA Boys will be joining crew members from New Zealand's Black Match Racing Team in a Ker 32 for the Raja Muda Regatta. We are racing from Terenganu to Penang to Langkawi with some fleet racing in between.
RAJA MUDA REGATTA so far…
Race One – 5th Place – Sailed in Torrential rain for 8 hours.
Race Two – 1st Place – An awesome result for us as we are racing against boats that are much faster than ours. We sailed around a rain cloud and all the other teams had to go through. Right in the middle of the cloud the wind dropped to nothing, and ‘Ku Ku Ker Chu’ ended up crossing the finish line 2 hours ahead of the next team.
The WAKA Boys will be joining crew members from New Zealand's Black Match Racing Team in a Ker 32 for the Raja Muda Regatta. We are racing from Terenganu to Penang to Langkawi with some fleet racing in between.
RAJA MUDA REGATTA so far…
Race One – 5th Place – Sailed in Torrential rain for 8 hours.
Race Two – 1st Place – An awesome result for us as we are racing against boats that are much faster than ours. We sailed around a rain cloud and all the other teams had to go through. Right in the middle of the cloud the wind dropped to nothing, and ‘Ku Ku Ker Chu’ ended up crossing the finish line 2 hours ahead of the next team.
UPCOMING AND CURRENT RACING
Raja Muda Regatta (finishes 21 Nov)
Sunseeker Australia Cup 26-29th November
Monsoon Cup 1- 6 Dec
Raja Muda Regatta (finishes 21 Nov)
Sunseeker Australia Cup 26-29th November
Monsoon Cup 1- 6 Dec
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Asian Match Racing Championships - WAKA Undefeated
'WAKA Racing leads after first round robin of the Asian Match Racing Championships 2009. Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia. Photo: Gareth Cooke/Subzero Images'
Hi Guys,
‘Its hot, Its humid and its sticky’. Terengganu has given us everything we expected, except for no rain. The food is to die for but taxi drivers don’t like it when five all pile into there little Protons. Along with all the greatness Malaysia has to offer the sailing has been outstanding. We still remain undefeated after completing 10 races and guaranteed the top qualifying spot. Despite our good run so far we have a big task at hand tomorrow to pull this win off with some very tough racing ahead.
We started today well taking two early victories before a short break and rest from the intense heat. Coming back out onto the water for a long afternoon spell we picked our game up and sailed a lot better. Our best races of the day were from the two Malaysian teams Hazim and Mansor. Against Hazim he picked the first shift well out of the unfavoured side to gain the first cross. After a few tacks and close manoeuvres we managed to get a spinnaker hoist inside him and take the lead around the bottom. From here we extended and took a comfortable lead. With an early lead to us against Mansor he sailed well to stay close behind. He picked a couple of great shifts up the second beat to be up our tail pipe around the top mark for the last time. We then held this fraction of a lead to cross the finish line one length ahead.
A fantastic day for the Waka’s which we are stoked with. Another great feed and good night sleep is required to be on top of our game tomorrow. We plan to up the intensity a little and take everyone as if they are the best in the world.
Click here http://bit.ly/nlrMC if you would like to see some exciting footage of the racing on Day 3 of the Championships. Check out the latest footage aswell as results and press releases for this event at http://www.monsooncup.com.my
Waka Racing would like to thank Ian from Tax Management NZ for helping the team get up here to compete, along with Stefan of Widex, Pacific Sports Community Trust, Ross Munro of Line 7, RNZYS, Simon from Frontend Design and the WAKA racing supporters club for all their help and generosity.
Cheers
Waka Racing
Monday, October 12, 2009
11th in Gold Cup
Hi Guys
Lighter breezes were a welcome change on the 4th day of the Gold Cup as we set out for the repechage stage. The competition was no easier than we had previously imagined so the task at hand was not a simple one. Six teams, one round robin with the top two progressing through to the quarter finals.
We started off against Torvar Mirsky where we were deemed over the line at the start, forcing us to re start and fight from behind. A few freak puffs in light conditions gave us the lead again at the top mark but not as much momentum, giving him the opportunity to roll us. He regained the lead and we didn’t get a sniff in as he dominated the race from there.
We then won our race against 5th ranked Damian Iehl after sealing a good start and the early lead. We didn’t let this one slip away, capitalising on our early advantage by extending our lead in the second lap. Next up was local man and Gold Cup veteran Blythe Walker. Down speed off the line we had a fight on our hands. We made little gains up the first beat rounding the mark 1 length behind. Downwind he maintained the small lead until the second beat where we managed to gain the right hand side and starboard advantage. We held him off at the top and rounded the mark, after a big luff by a boat length. We made a small error by letting him gybe first and then the waves we hit after didn’t help. A very close finish was inevitable but another error on our behalf didn’t help the cause and he crossed the line ahead by half a boat length. Disappointing for sure but an area highlighted for us as something to work on. The last race was against Dave Perry another match racing veteran. A great start towards the favoured side sealed the race for us and we extended our lead throughout. Unfortunately only two wins in this round didn’t quite get us through to the next, knocking us out of the competition in a solid 11th place out of 24.
Waka rolling downwind to the finish ahead of Peter Gilmour
This draws our tour to an end for Waka Racing. We were satisfied with the result but a little gutted with missing out on the top 8. Waka sailed well this regatta, being the first time in Bermuda and in boats that were difficult to manoeuvre. We adapted really well to the old, slow and unorthodox characteristics of the IOD’s and managed some really good wins against tough competition.
The team is now looking forward to heading back to the comfort of home. After 6 months of travelling and sailing we are excited about getting back to Mum’s meals and a good bed! Thank You for all your support over the trip and we will send a full summary report when we get back.
We would also like to thank Stefan of Widex, Pacific Sports Community Trust, Ian of Tax Management NZ, Ross Munro of Line 7, RNZYS, Simon from Frontend Design and the WAKA racing supporters club for all their help and generosity.
Cheers,
Waka Boys,
Phil Robertson
Garth Ellingham
James Williamson
Sam Bell
Garth Ellingham
James Williamson
Sam Bell
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Eyes on the Prize
Supporters and Friends,
Competition here is fierce and the format is ruthless. With 3 groups of 8 we needed to qualify in the top 4 in to go through to the next stage. The top two spots in each group automatically qualify for the quarter finals and the next two move to a repechage round to fight for the remaining two spots in the top 8. We drew a very hard group, Peter Gilmour, Jonny Berntsen and Mathieu Richard have all won the regatta in the past, with Blythe Walker and Mattias Rahm also making the semi finals at in the competition a couple of years ago.
Our solid day yesterday set a great foundation to work off today. We had two wins on the board and knew we needed at least two more to move through. We made quick work of this by taking down Charlie Enright and Don Wilson in our first two races putting us in a good spot on the points board. We then had a slightly disappointing race against Walker, coming off the line behind and with a penalty, the team did a fantastic job catching up. We set up a trap to get rid of our penalty but unfortunately copped another in the process and couldn't come back from there.
With 4 wins, 3 losses on the board we finished 4th in our group and moved through to the next stage ahead of Peter Gilmour and Mattias Rahm. A great achievment for the team to beat them both considering it is our first time competing here in these difficult boats.
The repechage round started with one race for us this afternoon which was unfortunately a loss. We got pinned out in the start and couldn't quite gain enough ground to attack Bjorn Hansen who crossed the line first. Four tough races to go tomorrow which we are all amped for and have our eyes set on making the quarter finals.
Thanks for all you support and encouragement.
From the 'Island of Love',
The Waka's
Phil Robertson
Garth Ellingham
James Williamson
Sam Bell
Competition here is fierce and the format is ruthless. With 3 groups of 8 we needed to qualify in the top 4 in to go through to the next stage. The top two spots in each group automatically qualify for the quarter finals and the next two move to a repechage round to fight for the remaining two spots in the top 8. We drew a very hard group, Peter Gilmour, Jonny Berntsen and Mathieu Richard have all won the regatta in the past, with Blythe Walker and Mattias Rahm also making the semi finals at in the competition a couple of years ago.
Our solid day yesterday set a great foundation to work off today. We had two wins on the board and knew we needed at least two more to move through. We made quick work of this by taking down Charlie Enright and Don Wilson in our first two races putting us in a good spot on the points board. We then had a slightly disappointing race against Walker, coming off the line behind and with a penalty, the team did a fantastic job catching up. We set up a trap to get rid of our penalty but unfortunately copped another in the process and couldn't come back from there.
With 4 wins, 3 losses on the board we finished 4th in our group and moved through to the next stage ahead of Peter Gilmour and Mattias Rahm. A great achievment for the team to beat them both considering it is our first time competing here in these difficult boats.
The repechage round started with one race for us this afternoon which was unfortunately a loss. We got pinned out in the start and couldn't quite gain enough ground to attack Bjorn Hansen who crossed the line first. Four tough races to go tomorrow which we are all amped for and have our eyes set on making the quarter finals.
Thanks for all you support and encouragement.
From the 'Island of Love',
The Waka's
Phil Robertson
Garth Ellingham
James Williamson
Sam Bell
Bermuda Gold Cup Day 2
Hi all,
After no racing for us yesterday (due to lack of wind) we finally got onto the water racing today. We had four races against the top four ranked skippers in our pool. The conditions were a puffy strong breeze that made the International One Designs (IOD) quite a handful, with two of the races being sailed with no kites.
First race was against Mattias Rahm where we got a solid windward start with gauge that enabled us to lead around the top mark. Fortunately for us when he turned around the mark his boom clipped the top mark and the umpires gave him a penalty. Then at the bottom with him right behind us he was judged to have hit us from behind and was given another penalty. The final straw came when he didn't do this second penalty immediately and was given the "black flag". First win on the board.
Second race was against the defending champion from last year Johnie Berntsson. We dominated the first part of the pre-start forcing a penalty on him in the dial up but then got ourselves into trouble allowing Johnie to pin us and get us slow to convincingly win the start. We fought hard all race to minimise the gap so he couldn't do his penalty turn but he sailed well and managed to do it and win the race.
Third race was against legend Peter Gilmour whom we had a close race against at the Danish Open. After a tough pre-start in the big breeze Peter came off the line with a windward start and nearly rolled us. We did a nice move luffing him to stop this and forced him to tack off. We then picked a couple of nice shifts to get back to bow to bow with him and when he lee-bowed us we pounced. Managing to partially roll him and take height. Now we had him locked and led around the top mark. With kites back in action the downwinds proved to be ver hairy but the team held its nerve and managed to pull off a close victory that we were very happy about.
The final race against Mathieu Richard proved to be a bit of a disappointment as we had him pinned above the line for most of the pre-start but a boat handling cock up allowed him to break free. Also putting us in a bad situation that we infringed in giving ourselves an soft penalty. We tried hard all race to get rid of the penalty but Mathieu sailed well keeping clean.
Overall the team is pretty happy with the day. If you told us at the beginning of the day we would have two victories against the top four we would definately had taken it. However we know we could have done better. Tomorrow we have three races to finish off our pool with another windy day forcasted. The boys are all keen and ready to go with three wins a must!
Thanks to all our sponsors and supporters for all the encouragement.
Cheers
The WAKA Boys
Phil Robertson
Garth Ellingham
James Williamson
Sam Bell
-- WAKA RACING
email: wakaracing@gmail.com
web site: www.wakaracing.blogspot.com
After no racing for us yesterday (due to lack of wind) we finally got onto the water racing today. We had four races against the top four ranked skippers in our pool. The conditions were a puffy strong breeze that made the International One Designs (IOD) quite a handful, with two of the races being sailed with no kites.
First race was against Mattias Rahm where we got a solid windward start with gauge that enabled us to lead around the top mark. Fortunately for us when he turned around the mark his boom clipped the top mark and the umpires gave him a penalty. Then at the bottom with him right behind us he was judged to have hit us from behind and was given another penalty. The final straw came when he didn't do this second penalty immediately and was given the "black flag". First win on the board.
Second race was against the defending champion from last year Johnie Berntsson. We dominated the first part of the pre-start forcing a penalty on him in the dial up but then got ourselves into trouble allowing Johnie to pin us and get us slow to convincingly win the start. We fought hard all race to minimise the gap so he couldn't do his penalty turn but he sailed well and managed to do it and win the race.
Third race was against legend Peter Gilmour whom we had a close race against at the Danish Open. After a tough pre-start in the big breeze Peter came off the line with a windward start and nearly rolled us. We did a nice move luffing him to stop this and forced him to tack off. We then picked a couple of nice shifts to get back to bow to bow with him and when he lee-bowed us we pounced. Managing to partially roll him and take height. Now we had him locked and led around the top mark. With kites back in action the downwinds proved to be ver hairy but the team held its nerve and managed to pull off a close victory that we were very happy about.
The final race against Mathieu Richard proved to be a bit of a disappointment as we had him pinned above the line for most of the pre-start but a boat handling cock up allowed him to break free. Also putting us in a bad situation that we infringed in giving ourselves an soft penalty. We tried hard all race to get rid of the penalty but Mathieu sailed well keeping clean.
Overall the team is pretty happy with the day. If you told us at the beginning of the day we would have two victories against the top four we would definately had taken it. However we know we could have done better. Tomorrow we have three races to finish off our pool with another windy day forcasted. The boys are all keen and ready to go with three wins a must!
Thanks to all our sponsors and supporters for all the encouragement.
Cheers
The WAKA Boys
Phil Robertson
Garth Ellingham
James Williamson
Sam Bell
-- WAKA RACING
email: wakaracing@gmail.com
web site: www.wakaracing.blogspot.com
Monday, October 5, 2009
Bermuda Gold Cup
Hi Guys,
Weeks have past since we last wrote and we have just about completed our tour for the year. We finished the Danish Open 2 weeks ago and are now embarking on the last competition of our tour here on the beautiful island of Bermuda. We are competing in the very very prestigious Bermuda Gold Cup which has been running for over 60 years and we are looking forward to the start of the event in the International One Designs (IOD). We landed here this morning in class, arriving on a private jet belonging to Don Wilson, founder of the Chicago Match Race Centre. We spent the weekend on Lake Michigan doing some much needed training against him in similar boats called Shields. Getting used to the characteristics of the old boats was the goal with the intentions of being able to jump into the IOD's come race day, and be up to speed.
The funny format of 24 teams split into 3 groups throws a spanner in the works for the team. We have a fairly tough group but are confident we can make a top 4 spot to proceed to the next round. Having raced most of the guys, we know we are strong opposition and look forward to knocking down some more big names in the Match Racing world. This event is also the second to last regatta for the World Tour this year and our 3rd one we have competed in. We are really excited about getting under way and stuck into some fantastic racing. Thanks for all your support and letters of encouragement, it all goes a long way and we are very grateful to have you all behind us.
If you would like to follow the racing live or a little closer than our half assed reports you can go to the event website at: www.bermudagoldcup.com/, or www.worldmatchracingtour.com for all the media and links.
Cheers,
WAKA Boys
Phil Robertson
Garth Ellingham
James Williamson
Sam Bell
Weeks have past since we last wrote and we have just about completed our tour for the year. We finished the Danish Open 2 weeks ago and are now embarking on the last competition of our tour here on the beautiful island of Bermuda. We are competing in the very very prestigious Bermuda Gold Cup which has been running for over 60 years and we are looking forward to the start of the event in the International One Designs (IOD). We landed here this morning in class, arriving on a private jet belonging to Don Wilson, founder of the Chicago Match Race Centre. We spent the weekend on Lake Michigan doing some much needed training against him in similar boats called Shields. Getting used to the characteristics of the old boats was the goal with the intentions of being able to jump into the IOD's come race day, and be up to speed.
The funny format of 24 teams split into 3 groups throws a spanner in the works for the team. We have a fairly tough group but are confident we can make a top 4 spot to proceed to the next round. Having raced most of the guys, we know we are strong opposition and look forward to knocking down some more big names in the Match Racing world. This event is also the second to last regatta for the World Tour this year and our 3rd one we have competed in. We are really excited about getting under way and stuck into some fantastic racing. Thanks for all your support and letters of encouragement, it all goes a long way and we are very grateful to have you all behind us.
If you would like to follow the racing live or a little closer than our half assed reports you can go to the event website at: www.bermudagoldcup.com/, or www.worldmatchracingtour.com for all the media and links.
Cheers,
WAKA Boys
Phil Robertson
Garth Ellingham
James Williamson
Sam Bell
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
