|
Kate Gostlow, Tuesday, 3 July 2012
2012 Australian Schools Teams Racing Championships
One hundred and fifty secondary school students from 22 Schools will be in Melbourne to compete in the 2012 Australian Schools Teams Racing Championships from Thursday 12th July to Sunday 15th July. The championships are being sailed on Albert Park Lake which is 5 kilometres south of Melbourne's CBD. The event is being hosted by Albert Sailing Club, who are organising it in partnership with Yachting Australia and Yachting Victoria.
The competing schools are from all States and the Australian Capital Territory. They have been invited based on results in Schools Teams Racing Championships conducted in each State earlier in 2012. There are five schools from the host state Victoria: Geelong Grammar, Haileybury, Mentone Grammar, St Leonards and The Peninsula School. The team from Esperance Senior High School, south east of Perth is making the longest journey with a 700 kilometre bus trip to Perth then a plane trip to Melbourne.
There is four days of competition in the championships. Each team consists of six students sailing two up in Pacer class dinghies. The racing will be closeup and great for spectators with the course no more than two hundred metres from the foreshore of the Lake. Each day will see many short races of school versus school on a short course, with races usually no more than ten minutes in duration. The finals will be on Sunday afternoon.
The Schools Teams Racing Championships are held annually and rotate between the Australian States. The 2011 Championships were sailed from the South of Perth Yacht Club in Western Australia, and were won by St Michaels College, South Australia who will be defending their win at the 2012 event.
Albert Sailing Club is in Aquatic Drive next to the State Athletics Centre in Albert Park Reserve. Entry is via the Gates into the Reserve from Albert Road, with parking fees applying in the Reserve and surrounding areas.
| | |
