Will Ryan leads Australian Youth Match into semis
Round Robin Two Report 
'Day 2 AUS Youth Match Racing Will Ryan leads into semis'
Andrea Francolini ©
Day two of the Australian Youth Match Racing Championship (AYMRC) 2008 provided the competitors with another postponement (AP) in racing as the Race Committee waited for the breeze to settle in. When racing did get underway at 11:00am, all competitors put yesterday's leader, CYCA's Ryan, on notice that they were not done yet.
With the breeze, a NE setting in at around 9 knots, for the opening flight, it was RFBYC's Brown who took the race to CYCA's Ryan, forcing him into a tacking duel up to the first mark, before pulling ahead in the first downwind leg. Ryan however, looked strong at the bottom mark, and rounded first, but picked up a penalty as he failed to give Brown enough room to round the mark.
Brown took full advantage of a freshening breeze on the windward side of the course, and led the remainder of the race to win by 1 minute - setting the stage for an exciting second day's racing.
Looking to extend on her strong performance in the second half of round one, DSC's Whitty came out firing in flight two, looking to reverse her 3 second loss against RSYS's Chapman from day one.
Whitty engaged Chapman in an exciting tacking duel, and excellent teamwork on Whitty's boat ensured the only all-female crew to take the match by 7 seconds.
The match against Chapman was not the only close result for Whitty, who found herself in two more extremely close results throughout the round. 
Whitty was less fortunate in flight three against CYCA's Searle, after Searle forced Whitty into one final jybe just outside the finish line, handing Searle a 2 second win.
Flight five proved even more exciting, this time it was Whitty on the winning end, after a thrilling final downwind run which had PRO Denis Thompson on his toes, with Whitty reaping the rewards of a last-second jybe to sneak up and over MDSC's O'Rourke to steal the match by less than a second.
The final positions however, were wide open until the completion of the seventh and final flight, with RSYS's Quartly taking on CYCA's Searle for a place in the semi-final.
In a match that was reminiscent of the final race of the 2007 America's Cup, Searle led Quartly towards the finish line, but carried an outstanding penalty. Seeming to have the lead as he completed the penalty turn, Searle's crew looked on as Quartly picked up a fresh breeze and powered over the line, Quartly winning the match and second place after round two.
Heading into the semi finals, the leader board looks like this:
1. CYCA / YNSW- Ryan - 10 wins 2 losses
2. RSYS / YNSW- Quartly - 8 wins 4 losses
3. CYCA / YNSW - Searle - 7 wins 5 losses
4. DSC / YNT - Whitty - 7 wins 5 losses
5. RSYS / YNSW- Chapman - 7 wins 5 losses
6. RFBYC / YWA - Brown - 3 wins 9 losses
7. MDSC / YQLD - O'Rourke - 0 wins 12 losses 
by Event Media 
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